Aerial
by Blaze the Horizon
Summary: After meeting an enigmatic boy named Fay, Kurogane is soon swept into a magnificent world. But the nations are warring, all in the name of a young prince. Both struggle in the chaos, and discover a bond that goes back further than they imagined.
1. Earthbound

Hello all, and welcome to my first full-length shounen-ai story! If you are reading the author's note (which I should hope you are), know that the primary focus of this story will be Kurofai, but there will be hints of other pairings, as well as a bit of mix and match with other characters to shake things up a bit (I'm not giving details yet!) But I'm a firm believer in Clamp's soulmate couples, so please do not be offended if I play cracktastic Cupid for a while with the characters. I promise to leave them in the arms of their proper beloved when I'm done.

Also, this story is more of a scifi/fantasy, with romance and friendship mixed heavily in, but FF doesn't allow for so many categories. The title of this story, will have more significance in the next chapters.

That said, I would like to say that I am in no way making a profit off this story. It is the sole creation of the lovely mangaka Clamp, of which I'm not part of, and I own merely the story line. Also, this story was vaguely inspired by Clover, another Clamp work, which I also claim no ownership of.

-------------

"**The reason birds can fly and we can't is simply that they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings"- James Matthew Barrie**

-------------

Kurogane huffed, throwing a rock at a hollowed-out tree stump for the umpteenth time. He was supposed to have been on a plane to Africa by now, if only his father's job hadn't called him away. His friend Doumeki had cut any hope Kurogane might've had salvaging his vacation time when he traveled to a beach resort farther south. He would gladly have spent time with the boy, who was quiet and not a complete moron like the rest of his class.

His new friend, however, was the last sort of person he wanted to deal with. Sure, Watanuki's cooking rivaled that of his own mother's, but he threw bitch fits every time Doumeki so much as looked at him the wrong way. Admittedly, this happened quite a lot, and was bound to wear down on Kurogane's nerves, which were stretched taut to begin with.

As it was, he happened to be stuck here for the better part of the summer break, and therefore he was bored out of his mind. Everyone who knew Kurogane was of the understanding that he became restless when he got bored, especially when a certain friend left him high-and dry and there were no means of entertainment. For Kurogane, being restless lead to being angry.

Not that he was exactly the picture of sunshine in his daily life, but he was considerably less grumpy when he had a purpose to fulfill. Still, the point was that three weeks into summer vacation he hadn't once gone farther than the few miles his dirt-bike could go out of their dirt road before hitting major traffic.

Tossing one last rock at the stump (which by now had several pock-marks where he had missed the hole at the top), he skulked off toward the house. At the last minute, though, he opted for getting his dirt-bike from the garage instead, deciding that it couldn't hurt to find a better way to burn his frustration out. He pulled the red, dirt encrusted machine from the back of the garage, and after walking it to the driveway, held the clutch and cranked it. The loud rumbling of the gas engine in itself was enough to take the edge off his agitation. He twisted the handle bar, revving the motor, and took of down the dirt road. Kurogane twisted the handle bar, turning right, leaning his body as he did so.

Only just having left the street he lived on a few moments ago, arriving to the edge of a busier road, the sound of a familiar car greeted him.

"Kurogane~! Yoohoo! C'mere a minute!" With a slight growl, he pulled up alongside the blue Lexus containing the three females who could make his day or turn it into a living hell in less than five minutes, depending on the day and how they were feeling. He hoped today was one of which they took pity on him. Not that he needed it, but it couldn't hurt to have someone lift his spirits. Tomoyo and Kendappa Daidoji, and Souma, Kendappa's girlfriend.

The latter two were in their second year of college, while Tomoyo was in seventh grade, two grades down from Kurogane. When Tomoyo and he had been in elementary school, third and fifth and grade respectively, the two older high-school girls sometimes picked them up, skipping school, and took them on excursions to ice-cream parlors or the amusement park right outside their town.

There was one incident that Kurogane never forgave them for, however, that happened when he was six. The three girls were sinister enough to force him into one of Tomoyo's dresses, red bows, frills and stockings and all. It wasn't because Tomoyo had cried big, fat crocodile tears. Of course that had nothing at all to do with them managing to get the dress on him. No, it was merely that at such a young age, he wasn't stronger than any of them. Certainly no match for three determined girls, hell bent on killing his dignity, put together. Tomoyo, little miss future fashionista, had jumped up in down on the spot giddily upon the completion of their conjoined masterpiece… Until Kurogane tore one of the bows off of the dress; then she really did cry.

"Yeah?" He asked, parking the bike beside the car on the passengers' side, where the younger sister sat. She wore a white sundress that gave nice contrast to her lily-white skin, and too-big sunglasses atop her wavy dark hair. She was only half Asian, and had inherited her European father's complexion.

Tomoyo threw a hapless glance at her elder sister before deigning to tell him what exactly she had called him over for in the first place. "We were planning on taking a trip to our family's cabin in the mountains…"

"…And we were considerate enough to ask you to join us," finished Kendappa.

"Oh yeah? What's the catch?"

Tomoyo blinked, tilting her head to the side innocuously. Kendappa craned her body over her younger sister's and, eyes sparkling with nefarious intent that she barely masked, replied. "Can't we invite our favorite cousin somewhere without him getting suspicious? You certainly are a distrusting brute, Kurogane." She pretended to look disapproving for good measure.

"Yeah, well I have good reason to be," he muttered under his breath. He knew that mocking tone, and it made his eyebrow twitch. "Last time I took your offer I was dragged shopping against my will. I don't want a repeat of that."

"Goodness, no! We don't want another incident like last time happening. You shouted at that nice clerk at the store, which, if I may be so bold to say," ( and she was), "got us kicked out." A mildly frantic Tomoyo waving her hands in front of her face alleviated his fears. "If anyone should be worried, it should be us. You need to learn to control your temper more."

He bristled at that, crossing his arms in preparation for a defensive rant. "Control my ass! That saleswoman was trying to fucking kill me with that perfume-"

"Are you coming or not?" His youngest cousin interrupted him by rapping her knuckles against his temple. He grunted at her, giving a short nod. She clapped her hands together. "Wonderful, we'll pick you up tomorrow at ten."

And with that, the two girls in the blue car left Kurogane standing there, hardly daring to believe his good luck, if you believed in that sort of thing anyway. Then again, he supposed his cousins would find a way to make certain he never accepted a handout from them ever again without seriously considering the consequences first. They usually did. He entertained the horrifying idea that they hadn't said they weren't going to cart him off to the mall to carry their bags as payment for the vacation they had so graciously bestowed upon him.

Deciding that wasting time worrying about it didn't bode well for his health, he pushed it to the back of his mind and kicked off his bike down the silver-flecked asphalt as fast as it would go, only slowing down when he reached the dirt road leading back to his house.

Once he had retied his bike to the rack, he kicked off his shoes at the door and took the stairs two at a time into the kitchen. He immediately went to the refrigerator, nabbing a cold grape soda and leftover chicken salad. Normally Kurogane turned up his nose at sweets, but the fizzy purple drink was a rare exception; something so delicious it could break even his steely resolve. He popped open the can, grabbed a fork, and headed into his room to take stock of the condition of his wardrobe.

Unlike most other boys his age, Kurogane's room was fairly organized and tidy, mostly because he had very little in the way of possessions. Tomoyo often teased him for being a neat-freak. That wasn't true, however. He just liked to know where to find his belongings, and besides, it wasn't as if he was averse to throwing a few shirts on the floor here and there.

Somehow the room managed to contain a lived-in feel, without being cluttered. The headboard of the bed queen-sized bed doubled as storage with drawers and shelves on the sides. A mirror was located directly behind the bed, and there was and armoire in the corner of the room. The furniture was black, with white accents. The red and black bedspread was unkempt (he rarely made his bed, despite his penchant for cleanliness), the towel from the morning's shower lying forgotten on it.

He pulled out a duffel bag, rolled several shirts, jeans, and other clothing and placing them in the bag. Then, as an afterthought, he tossed in his swim trunks. He knew the cabin had a washer and dryer, so he wasn't bothered about packing two and a half weeks worth of clothes.

Once he was finished, he opened the door to his bathroom, searching for his travel toiletries. His mother had been a wildlife photographer before her illness had incapacitated her, forcing her to stay near home. Still, pictures of exoctic animals lined the walls in the house, a showcase for his mother's work that did not sell at the auctions. And it was inevitable that her line of work took her all over the world, often for weeks at a time. Sometimes, if he was lucky enough, he had been allowed to go with her. He'd been to different parts of Europe and Asia, and almost to South Africa once, until he'd gotten the flu just before it was time to leave. He kept a bag full of hygiene items handy in case they had to leave on short notice. He eventually found said kit hidden behind the stack of towels under the sink, and examined it for all the necessary items. Kurogane stuffed the items into the side pocket of his bag.

"Kurogane, are you in there?" His mother's voice sounded from the kitchen. He shoved his duffel bag off the bed, poking his head out of the room.

"Yeah?"

"Some help with the groceries would be nice." She pointed outside where the family sedan was parked, trunk open to reveal a dozen or so plastic bags. The teenager went to collect them and set them on the counter as his mother put the food away.

"I'm going with Tomoyo and her sister and her girlfriend to their cabin in the mountains," he declared, blatant, watching his mother put up the bread. "I'm leaving tomorrow morning."

She seemed untroubled by this new information her son had given her, just like he knew she'd be. Other parents might have called her irresponsible, but she was a firm believer in allowing her son his freedom, even when he'd been younger. "I'm glad you found something to do this summer. You've been moping around here like a kicked puppy!"

He growled. "I'm not a freaking dog! And if anyone's doing the kicking, it'll be me."

His mother chuckled, "Only an expression, sweetie."

"M'not sweet."

But before he could stop her, she was squeezing him in a tight hug. His arms remained slack on either side of his body. Kurogane told himself that he endured it only because it was his mother and besides it was in private. When she let finally him go, to his immense relief, he skulked off to the kennels where the animals were kept.

* * *

The coyote with the broke foreleg in the first cage snarled as he passed by, skittering to the back of the cage, away from the human with the glaring red eyes, which by now Kurogane was rolling. "I'm coming to feed you. Dumb mutt."

It merely lowered its ears and pulled back its lips to reveal serrated teeth. "Tch. If that's the way you're gonna be, I'll feed you last. See if I care if you starve," he said, opening the barn where the frailer creatures were housed- mainly birds and smaller mammals.

At the moment there was a skunk healing from an attack from a cat, a falcon with mange, and a few songbirds. Kurogane went to the very back of the barn where the feed was kept. He found the chart stating which medicines and food went to each animal, carefully measuring the exact amount into each container. Afterwards, he changed the water in each cage. Half an hour, and many scratches from a rather ornery young bobcat later, he was locking up the barn and heading for the stables where the family horses were lodged.

In the stall closest to the door was Ginryuu, his father's grey gelding. Next was Miko, the black mare belonging to his mother. But Kurogane had eyes only for the last horse. Souhi, a blue roan Thoroughbred, given to him as a present for his eighth birthday. He was as hot-blooded and temperamental as his rider; in fact, Kurogane himself was the only one the horse trusted completely enough to let him ride on his back. At present, he was craning his neck around the side of the stall, ears pricked forward. He nickered a soft greeting when he saw Kurogane approaching him with a carrot.

The blue-gray horse eagerly crunched on the treat as his master patted his neck. Kurogane opened the stall door, and within minutes had Souhi fully tacked, lead him outside the bar. They set out at a canter, but soon the adrenaline was rushing through the veins of both rider and mount, compelling him to kick it up to a full gallop. When they reached a felled tree on the trail, he pushed Souhi onward, who flew over the obstacle as if aided by wings. The horse was a superb jumper, even competing in a few events, though nothing that involved serious committment. Feeling the drum of Souhi's hooves, they road until Kurogane could see the end of the trail, leading to the forest.

By this time they had gone five miles, and now Kurogane felt sweat lathering on both of them, saw the sunset turning the clouds a vibrant lavender-fuchsia. It was too dark by now to go into the woods, although the trail ran even longer. He jumped down in order to give the stallion some time to cool off, to which Souhi appeared immensely grateful, if the way he nuzzled Kurogane's hair was anything to go by. When he felt the dampness from Souhi's neck had evaporated, and that his breathing had slowed to normal, he remounted and set off at a mild pace the last couple of miles to his house. There, he untacked the exhausted, but very satisfied horse, making certain to give the horse an extensive grooming and change his feed. Then, he trudged back the house.

His father was in the kitchen chopping onions for dinner, and looked up when he saw his son. "I hear you're vacationing with your cousins."

Kurogane nodded. "I'm leaving tomorrow morning."

"That soon? Damn," he cursed. His thin eyebrows, so like his son's, knitted together in concern. They were alike, not only in appearance, but in personality. The both shared the same hairline, same dangerous look in their red eyes, and the desire for activity. Mr. Youou, however, was more easygoing, a man comfortable with himself and his life, a peace that his son had yet to find for himself.

"What?" He frowned at his father. He really hoped there wasn't anything that warranted him staying behind, because he honestly did not think he could take another day living in such mundanity.

"I just wish it I'd gotten a few days notice, that's all," he said, chewing his lip. "I'm booked for the next week with calving and the patients need looking after while we're both gone. It'll be no trouble to pay someone, but a recommendation would help."

Oh, right. He'd nearly forgotten about the wildlife patients. His parents had met in college, both majoring in zoology. Although his father's minor was veterinary medicine, and his mother had chosen photography, their shared love of nature had brought them together. Kurogane's father worked as a large animal vet, but he operated a small wildlife clinic on the side. He took pride in nursing the creatures back to health and being able to release them back into the wild. It never mattered to him that this particular line of work didn't pay, either. He was simply a good-hearted person.

The boy thought for a moment. "Hn. I know a couple of eighth graders who might help," he started. "They're both scrawny kids, but the girl especially loves animals. And I'm sure the boy could use the money."

"They're siblings... or…"

"No. Dating," he corrected, shaking his head, thinking of Syaoran's devotion to Sakura, how the boy even held doors open for her and shit, something that made Kurogane shudder at the sickly sweetness of it. They had met when they were seven, having both been new students from the other side of the country, and became friends almost immediately. One was rarely seen without the other being somewhere close by. "They keep quiet about it, though. Not many people even know they're going out."

His father still looked hesitant.

"Don't worry, they'll work hard."

Finally convinced, his father nodded sharply, once, saying "Alright then, call them and tell the they're expected to be here at eight on Friday."

* * *

As it turned out, Sakura and Syaoran were more than eager to help out, even when Kurogane reminded them that the animals his father cared for weren't fluffy kittens to be cuddled and played with; the were unpredictable wild creatures. They'd get a rundown of how to feed and give meds, as well as moving the animals from one cage to another in the event it had to be cleaned.

"Nothing too hard," Kurogane said. "Eight o'clock sharp, remember."

"We'll be there," the boy assured him determinedly. "Sakura and I will take good care of everything."

And with that done, Kurogane slid his phone shut, preparing to wash up for dinner.

* * *

Tomoyo had told him they were coming at ten. Yet here it was, four minutes past eleven and they still hadn't shown. He was beginning to think the girls had stood him up, that they were lying about taking him on the trip, instead having blasted off down the highway set for the fresh mountain air. Not that it would've surprised him.

"Damn them!" he shouted, outraged. But suddenly a blue Lexus pulled into the driveway with Souma driving this time. He strode up to the vehicle, bags in hand and more irate than he'd been in days, more than ready to tell throw one of his childish tantrums "What the hell do you--"

"Hurry up, Kurogane. We're already behind schedule." Souma called, with enough 'don't-argue-with-me-or-I'll-turn-around-and-leave' threat in it to get Kurogane moving quickly to the trunk of the car. He somehow got his suitcase wedged in the small space, having already been overloaded with necessary (travel bags, television cables, blankets) and unnecessary (makeup kits, hair curlers, and other feminine things he didn't even know the name of) items. The sheets at the cabin might be dusty.

He slid into the back seat opposite Tomoyo with a huff, rolling his eyes. She, engrossed in a shoujo manga, gave him a cursory "Hey," and absently fished in the bag under her feet for another book, which she handed to Kurogane. On the cover was a picture of a young, too vibrant girl with red Rapunzel-length hair brandishing a sword.

"You've got to be shittin' me." Tomoyo blinked up at him, seemingly oblivious. Kurogane tried to refrain from bashing his head into the window. "I'm not reading this girly crap. You told me you were gonna bring something I'd like."

Tomoyo 'ohohoho'd' , setting her book down. Playfully, she tweaked his nose. "But Kurogane," she teased, "everyone knows you're a sensitive romantic at heart."

This of course made him irate, glaring, lunging across the seat to throttle his cousin. Her indigo eyes lit up with unconcealed mirth, though, instead of fear like he was expecting, as she covered her mouth to control her giggling. "My, my. Someone's acting like a spoilt child."

"I am NOT a child!" Hands clenched into fists, he fought the urge to jump out of the car. Why why why had he agreed to this? Was it really possible that he had been so bored sitting at home that he'd willingly trapped himself with the three people who brought out the worst in him?

He must be a masochist for going on this trip, putting his well-being in the hands of three teenage girls. Or insane. There was no way he was going to survive this with his head screwed on in the right direction for long.

"Kurogane, you should know better than to distract the driver," Kendappa said, smirking, her straight dark hair whipping about her head as she twisted to look at him from the passenger's seat. He continued to glower at her, until he felt Tomoyo pushing the book into his hands once again, wearing a martyred expression.

"You may as well read it," she suggested. "We're in here for another three hours."

Damn, she was right. Unfortunately right, because it was a shoujo manga. No self-respecting male in his right mind would dare open it. And it was either this, or three hours of slowly torturing himself by watching the trees flash past the car. He was kicking himself right then for not having brought a book of his own, or at least his Zune to listen to music.

Kill me now, he thought, opening the book.

He decided it wasn't all bad, once you got to the action, soon finding himself turning the pages (semi) enthusiastically to see what new monsters the three girls would face.

"Ooh I love that part," Tomoyo squealed upon seeing the pages he was on. "Fuu's adorable, ne?" Humming noncommittally, he shrugged. "And Hikaru! I'd love to have a friend as energetic as her…" she never finished, cluing him in to the fact that it would be a while before her eyes became less glassy and she came out of her dreamy state.

What did surprise him was seeing Tomoyo hitting her head on the car door a few minutes later, eyelids fluttering slowly. One particularly hard bump caused her to jolt awake, bleary, swaying back and forth in the seat. Kurogane snorted, arranging the young girl so she was laying with her head against the pillow on the armrest.

She snored. Dainty, feminine snores, but still. The freshman wished he had a recorder. Tomoyo would be aghast to learn about this, although she would deny it vehemently.

Once he saw that she was sleeping, he made himself comfortable against the side of the car.

"one-hundred and twelve more miles to go," Souma told them, looking at him from the rear-view mirror.

He nodded to show that he heard, decided to follow Tomoyo's example and settled in for a short nap the rest of the way.


	2. Takeoff

First of all, thanks to the people who reviewed the first chapter. Secondly, the updates won't be this fast in the future. I have one and a half more chapters written, and several more planned out, but after that, I'm writing on the fly. So enjoy while you can!

* * *

To be honest, Kurogane had expected the girls to be more demanding, so he braced himself for the chorus of: "Kurogane, be a dear and help us get our suitcases inside. It's such a long climb to the house!" or "We're going out, here, take our bags for us, won't you?" But no, the most they had asked of him was to carry the blankets. It could only mean one thing: they were still hanging something over his head; the other shoe was bound to drop eventually.

The house was a three-bedroom cottage-style masterpiece set upon a hill overlooking a crystalline mountain lake. Bay windows and a veranda that extended over two walls offered a spectacular view of the lake and the snowy mountains surrounding it. Sonomi had it built from the ground up less than a year ago, wanting a private vacation home for the hot summer.

Unfortunately, Sonomi Daidouji was away on business, and so she left the keys to her darling girls. That way, at least they would have fun and they could tell her all about it when they came home. Kurogane was most grateful for the high elevation-- the temperature drop was at least ten degrees from this altitude.

"That's the last of it," Souma flopped down on the tan suede loveseat. Tomoyo collapsed beside her in a flurry of snowy white skirts and a dramatic huff.

"How exhausting…" She fanned herself with her hand, catching her breath. In the meantime, Kendappa squeezed her way in next to her girlfriend, leaning heavily on her shoulder. "Someone should fix a cold drink. Kurogane…?"

"Hell no. Get it yourself," he panted, reclining back in a red plush chair. What, did these girls think he was a machine or something? He was as worn out as they were from trudging up and down that steep hill. Even with the cooler air, it was still close to eighty degrees, and they humidity was almost as bad. He shifted in the chair, propping his feet up and crossing his arm over his eyes, spent.

A few minutes later, he heard Tomoyo, sounding notably and suspiciously less drained than before. "Now that we've rested, it's time to choose rooms!"

Souma opened one groggy eye. "Kendappa and I need the largest one, since we're sharing."

Great, thought Kurogane, being kept awake by their antics was just what I wanted. He quickly stood up and collected his bag and things to make his bed with.

They opened all the rooms for inspection; as soon as Kendappa and Souma found the one they'd be staying in, Kurogane bee lined for the one farthest away. Once inside, he threw the blankets on the bed. He carried his duffel bag to the closet, opening it and--

"What the hell?!"

It was curled into a ball, hands tucked beneath its head in a cherubic fashion. A young human shape, the entire form luminescent even in the pitch black of the closet. The sleek golden hair that piled around the person, shielding the face and torso, made it impossible to tell if it was male or female.

"Oi! Who are you and how'd you get in here?"

Hazy, astounding cerulean eyes blinked open at the sound of the threatening tone Kurogane had used. Beautiful. The eyes, framed by long, pale colored lashes that made shadows on high cheekbones, gave off a slight ethereal glow (the thing was probably radioactive) like the rest of the body. Kurogane caught himself staring, angry for allowing this creature to get the better of him, and growled.

"I asked how the fuck you got in here!" The thing crinkled its brow and puckered thin lips, making clear that it was confused. Kurogane snatched its forearm roughly, dragging the boy into the light. Now he could plainly see that it was a he. Delicate, effeminately built, but male nonetheless. His ribcage stuck out pitifully, serving to make him appear even more fragile. Kurogane realized that the boy was a head shorter than he was, but with long and slender bones, making him seem taller than he really was.

Kurogane was so fixated on this anomaly that he jumped, hearing a loud bang. Suddenly he felt the angel clinging to his side, trembling and sucking in heavy breaths. His eyes moved from the boy to the front of the room where Tomoyo stood, a heavy bag at her feet.

"I thought I heard-oh!" She exclaimed upon seeing the stranger. "Hello, when did you get in here?"

"Don't bother asking, I've already tried," Kurogane snorted contemptuously.

"Kurogane, you should've warned us you were hiding your naked boyfriend in here."

Kurogane bristled, realizing how this must look. The angel was pressed closely to his side, holding onto his arm with more force than he'd thought possible from those scrawny fingers. His face was buried the crook of the taller boy's neck, breathing out warm puffs of air against his skin. "He-- I-- do you seriously think-- Tomoyo, I don't even know who the hell he is!

He forcefully pried the fingers away from his arm, only to have him switch sides and hide against his other shoulder. "Let go, idiot," he growled, pulling away. It was no use. Tomoyo laughed as he cast glistening azure eyes up at Kurogane and his lips quirked upward in a smile, the first of many, this one vulnerable and slightly coy.

Finally, Kurogane sat on the bed in defeat, wrapping the sheet around the other's naked figure.

"I think he really likes you, Kurogane," Tomoyo teased as she bent down in from of them. Cautiously, she addressed the waif. "Do you speak?"

"Yes," he replied, a distinctly male voice, though it was wrapped in a soft and light pitch that alluded to a femininity.

"If you could talk, why didn't you answer my question?" Kurogane frowned.

Tomoyo thumped Kurogane on the head. "Quit being rude." She turned back to the waif gently. "Pardon me, but do you have a name? I'm Tomoyo Daidouji, and this is Kurogane Youou. We're cousins. Don't worry, he's nicer than he looks."

"My name is Fay. Nice to meet you, Tomoyo-chan, Kuromyuu," he said politely.

"No, it's Ku-ro-ga-ne," the red-eyed teenager corrected, annoyed at Fay's deliberate misuse of his name.

Fay pouted, twisting a strand of that too long hair around his finger "But that's so hard to say. And since Kuropi is so nice, I'm sure he won't mind if I call him something else." He snuggled against his shoulder, hair falling like a silvery blond curtain over his eyes and hiding the playful smirk. Kurogane seethed, turning red in the face, whether from embarrassment or anger they weren't sure. Tomoyo snickered behind her hand. Oh yes, Fay decided, he was going to have so much fun with this boy.

"Are you hungry, Fay?"

He nodded sheepishly. "I can't remember when I've last eaten," he cast his eyes down. "But I don't want to be trouble for you."

"It's no trouble! Kendappa and Souma ought to be back soon with the groceries. You can eat with us, and then we'll find you something to wear until we can buy you more clothes." Her indigo eyes shone at the prospect of a new model. "Oooooh, I can't wait to shop for you!," she clasped Fay's hands in hers. "It's been so long since I've put together an outfit..."

Kurogane grumbled, shifting. "In the meantime, keep that thing around you," he indicated the sheet, "there's something called modesty. You should learn it."

"Sorry, Kuromi, I wasn't exactly in my right mind when you discovered me," Fay told him.

Kurogane frowned skeptically at him, not sure if he should believe this boy or not. While it was true that Fay had seemed disoriented at first, and he spoke shyly and apologetically, he had dodged almost every question thrown at him so far. Those blue eyes shifted, a testimony to the fact that Fay knew more than he acknowledged; Kurogane was certain of that. Fay's lips curled into dazzling smiles, formed honey words perfect for distracting them.

Clearing his throat, Kurogane pierce Fay with a cold stare.

"I hope you don't expect to stay here long."

"Kurogane!" Tomoyo scolded, and then turned to Fay. "Don't pay him a bit of attention. This is my house, so he has no ruling here, besides. Of course you can stay as long as you like," she assured him gently, shooting her dark-haired and brooding cousin a withering glance to the side.

"Thank you very much." Again with the politeness. It sounded almost fake to Kurogane. Seriously, what was up with this kid?

Tomoyo fidgeted, tugged at her blouse. "Um, pardon if this offends you, but where exactly did you come from?"

"I," he hesitated, "I really don't know..."For a split second, Kurogane thought he saw guilt flicker in Fay's eyes, but it left so quickly that he could not be sure. Fay twirled at a lock of his hair again (so it was a habit; a nervous one perhaps?) "I can't remember how I ended up here, either, though. Sorry," his head dropped.

By now, Kurogane was up to the roots of his hair in frustration. His impatience was breaking through, in spite of all his efforts to control his temper. "What the hell! You show up uninvited and now you can't even answer a single question we ask! Maybe we should throw you out." From Fay's expression, it looked as if he'd hit a very tender place.

"I'm truly sorry. Perhaps if Kurotan thinks it best that I leave…" He trailed off, lips turned up sadly, brokenly.

"Fay, don't listen to that jerk for a second," Tomoyo patted Fay's silky hair soothingly. "He just takes a while to warm up to new people."

"Why should I warm up to him? He might be a psychopath for all we know! And you're eating whatever he says right up!" He snarled, whipping his head towards Fay and glaring.

"I don't like you and I certainly don't trust you. And until I get answers, I'm not going to." With that, he snatched his arm from Fay's newly slackened grip and stomped to the door, slamming it shut as he left. Fay started, tremors racking him once again as the anxiety set in, mingling with disappointment. He felt like his heart had been a tiny bird waiting to fly, nestled safely in warm hands for a brief moment, and then only the fear as the hands opened, plummeting to the ground.

Tomoyo wrapped her arms around him, fingers rubbing against the smooth, pale skin on Fay's back "Shhh, it'll be fine. Kurogane isn't quite as scary as you'd think. But sometimes he's rather like a dog guarding his territory." Her smile was knowing, secretive. "He doesn't like it when unknown intruders come about."

Her words seemed to cheer Fay up, for he giggled. "The Kuro-puppy was mad I invaded his territory! But you know, Tomoyo-chan, I think he is sweet under all that grouchiness," Fay whispered conspiratorially.

A graceful laugh was brought forth from Tomoyo. "He definitely is. If you're feeling better, why don't I cut your hair? It'd be easier to manage if it was shorter."

Fay touched a lock of it, uncertainty and new found excitement mixing in his expression. "I've never cut my hair before. Does it hurt?" His sky blue eyes widened a little.

Tomoyo encouraged him, "Not at all, pinky swear." She held out her pinky to link with Fay's and they shook. Even after, however, Fay still seemed apprehensive about the ordeal.

"Unless you don't want to cut it?" she ventured tentatively.

"No, I'd like to." He smiled bravely, and she took him by the hand; none too swiftly she dragged him into the bathroom, ordering him to sit on the toilet seat while she found her scissors. Fay pulled the makeshift wrap more securely around him as he waited.

"Aha! Found them!" she declared, brandishing the scissors in her right hand and a bottle of water in the other when she stepped into the bathroom. "You know, my sister has more experience at this than I do. She probably is the one you want to be doing this. Never fear, though, I have training!" Tomoyo hummed thoughtfully to herself. "Cutting it too short would ruin your beautiful face, sooo…" leaving Fay to stare around the room as she set to work snipping, blond locks falling to the tile like gold ribbons.

She left it long enough to frame his face, the silky strands skimming a couple of inches past his jaw line, a gentle wave curling the hair now that it was shorter. The feathery tresses fell over his eyes, a forelock.

Fay twined the hair in front, beside his ear, turning his head. He was astounded by how light it felt in comparison with before.

"He still looks like a girl to me," a gravelly voice came from the doorway. Kurogane, leaning against the door frame, criticized Tomoyo's handiwork. He took in Fay's new appearance for a moment before admitting, "But at least it's an improvement from before."

The tiny blond's face was alight with happiness, "Kurochii likes my hair, hmm?" And he flirtatiously batted his eyelashes, twirling the hair around his finger.

Kurogane sputtered. "Ah?! I never said a damn thing about liking it. In fact, I still don't want you near me right now."

"So I can be near Kurokuro later?" Fay asked, grinning impishly.

"…you can see me when you're ready to give me some answers," he snorted. "Until then you can damn well stay away from me."

He disappeared from the doorway. The other two could hear the loud, thunderous footfalls, a creaking of the screen door as he went outside.

"I think smoothies are in order," Tomoyo suggested, "How about it?"

Fay nodded, distant, eyes still locked on the place where. Kurogane had stood. He felt Tomoyo's cool, small hands tugging at his own, helping him to his feet.

* * *

There you have it! This was originally one long chapter, but I split it into 2 parts. Please review the story if you liked it, or even if you didn't. I think the characters are a bit OOC, but I'm pretty sure the back stories of the characters will justify that.


	3. Celestial

Ok, follks, here's a continuation of the previous chapter. Also, please read to the bottom author's note for some important questions regarding the story. :D Thanks to those of you who are following this fic so far! And so the story goes...

* * *

Tomoyo spent the next half hour teaching Fay to make smoothies, including how to work the blender. Meanwhile, Kurogane continued to brood outside on the veranda. Fay thought that a delicious frozen drink would be just what was needed to get back on the right foot with the sulking teen. The blond proved to be a quick study, in any case, able to chop the fruits in a matter of seconds.

"You've a knack for this," she said, watching him cut the strawberries into perfect cubes. "Are you a chef or something?."

"No, but I like to cook a bit when I'm able," he explained ", it's fun!"

He found that all the girls and Kurogane had varied tastes. Tomoyo was a fan of mixed berry, Kendappa strawberry banana, Souma peach-orange.

"And Kurosama?"

"Mango, on the rare occasion that he drinks something that sweet at all," she replied. "You can ask him if he'd like one."

Fay chewed his lip "Alright. Back in a jiff!" Firmly planting on his megawatt smile, the kind that was reserved just for Kurogane (or annoying the hell out of him, to be more precise), he walked to the back door and peeked his head around the corner.

"What?" came Kurogane's voice from the darkness. Fay's heart started racing. Though he couldn't see the dark haired male, it was plain that the other could see him in the pitch black of the night. Fay looked down at his hands, the faint traces of illumination beneath his skin that made him glow as if he were starlight incarnate, whitish silver neon. It figured.

"You got some reason for coming out here or were you just trying to piss me off more?" Kurogane watched Fay in the dark, wringing his thin hands as if he were ashamed of something. Precisely what, Kurogane had no inkling.

"Oh!" He looked in the dark, near to where Kurogane sat, but not directly at him. Interesting, Kurogane thought, he can't see me in the dark but he glows so I can see him. "I was only wondering if Kurochuu wants a smoothie, perhaps," he chirped, recovering quickly from whatever ill feeling had plagued him a minute ago. "Tomoyo-chan says we have mangoes."

He studied Fay a moment longer before huffing, "fine" and waving his hand, dismissive.

Fay, pleased that his mission had been successful, quietly shut the door, promising to bring Kurogane his drink. Upon returning to the kitchen, he was met with the sight of two girls. One looked like an older version of Tomoyo, with straight hair, wearing a black skirt that hugged her figure and a blue sleeveless shirt. The other was very tan, black hair ending at her neck, in jean shorts and a simple forest green tank top. They stared at Fay and Fay stared back, muscles tensing unconsciously.

"There you are, Fay. I was looking for you." Tomoyo rounded the archway from the living room to the kitchen, coming to his rescue. She raised her eyebrows to her hairline when she saw the other girls, side by side and mouths slightly agape. In a flash, she skittered to the blond boy. "This is Fay. He's staying with us for a while. This is my sister, Kendappa, and Souma, her girlfriend," she introduced, pointing to each girl as she said their respective names.

"A pleasure to make your acquaintance," Fay said, bowing a little.

"Um, yes, you too." Kendappa nodded shortly.

"Nice toga," Souma remarked, ignoring Fay's polite greeting. "...Who are you again?"

This girl was almost as suspicious of him as Kurogane, though much less cold and biting. Fay decided then and there that he'd have to be wary of her nonetheless. He opened his mouth in attempt to explain himself, but Tomoyo beat him to it.

"Like I said, he's our guest for now. That's all." It was a rare moment when Tomoyo used her secret Princess Powers. She may only have been a five-foot tall seventh grader, but there were times that she seemed like a young empress. "Which reminds me; Souma, would you mind lending him something to sleep in for tonight? I'm going shopping for him tomorrow, but until then…" She winked. The dark-skinned girl nodded uneasily and disappeared into a bedroom.

Kendappa smirked "So my little sister is planning outfits for you already?"

"Yes. And I'm grateful that she is," Fay said, a cheerful tone flowing in and around his words and soft voice, laughing gently, "I've nothing to wear at the moment."

"Be that as it may, you should be very, very afraid."

Fay puckered his lips in the way he did when he was confused, but the elder Daidouji's only answer was a knowing smirk.

Souma reemerged with a bundle of clothing in her arms. She tossed them to Fay, who caught them and ducked into the bathroom to change. He came back after a time in his new outfit.

"Turn around, let me see!" demanded Tomoyo. She was having a hard time keeping her delight from bubbling to the surface and squealing like a madwoman. "Adorable!"

Souma and Kendappa were speechless. Fay, mildly abashed, but beaming, quietly thanked her. Then he remembered something. "Shouldn't we serve the drinks?"

"Oops, nearly forgot about that. Come in the kitchen, everybody." She wedged in between her friends, taking them by the elbow, dragging them into the kitchen

"Tada!" She opened the refrigerator and passed out the fruity treats.

"It's good," Kendappa stated approvingly, sipping hers through a bright green bending straw.

"Mhm." Souma, occupied with nursing her orange drink, gave a thumbs up.

Tomoyo waved her hand, gesturing to Fay "It wasn't all me; Fay helped make them. I couldn't believe it when he told me he'd never made smoothies before. You're a natural in the kitchen." She beamed at him

Fay, once again, accepted the praise with good grace. "If you all will excuse me, I'll go see to it that Kurotan gets his drink." And with that he left the room, mango smoothie in hand.

"Kuropuu, I brought a present for yoooooou," the boy informed him, pressing the cold glass into the larger boy's hands. "I made it with extra love!" Kurogane, if he hadn't been one not to waste, would have thrown the cup down then and there upon those words reaching his ears. As it were, he ground his teeth together and continued slurping his mango smoothie, frowning.

Or he would have, if he had not otherwise sputtered a drink for the second time that evening. Not because of what Fay had said, no, but because of what he was wearing. Those periwinkle shorts (were they Soffe shorts?) reached barely halfway down his slender thighs and the shirt, while loose on his wiry torso, rode at least three inches above his waist.

"Why the hell'd you let them dress you like a girl?"

"Mou, Kurowanko's a meanie! I think Souma-san was very nice to let me borrow her clothes!" Fay pretended to be offended and pout. "And Kurorinta ought to thank me for the delicious smoothie." His stuck his bottom lip out a teeny bit further for effect.

"I'm NOT a dog," the boy growled, ignoring the complaint.

Fay clasped his hands together in front himself, either ignoring the crimson-eyed young man's attempts at making vicious sounds, or perhaps simply being oblivious to them. "But Tomoyo-chan told me so! She said Kuro-puppy was only grumpy because Fay-kitty invaded your space!"

Said puppy was now beyond fuming. His hands clenched into tight fists and Fay was certain if his face turned any redder his head would be magically changed into a tomato. He giggled to himself at the mental picture of Kurogane with a tomato for a head, spiky black hair on top in place of leaves.

"The hell's so funny?" In one stride, Kurogane was nose to nose with the petite boy, hovering over him, scowling.

Fay saw the veins above his eye twitch. Being Fay, he poked lightly at the spot with the tip of his finger, amused, and yet no sign of fright was reflected in his countenance.

The dark haired teen snarled, reached his hand out toward the blond's throat to strangle him and…caught empty air when Fay ducked at the last second.

He was already to the door by the time Kurogane realized he'd been duped.

"Oh Kurochiiii!" He slipped inside, a devilish smile playing on his lips, and locked the door before the other teen's hand touched the knob.

"Let me in, bastard!" Kurogane roared, his boiling point having been surpassed long ago.

"But Kurorin, I haven't heard you say the magic word." He grinned coyly, impishly, cupping his hand to his ear and tilting his head to the side. "Mmm?"

Kurogane's answer was to pound on the door with a resounding "Now!"

Surely Fai must have felt the reverberating force of the punch through the wood, but even so he hadn't flinched. Instead, he merely stood there wearing that infuriating smile which he attempted to transform into a pitying frown, eyebrows bunching up in the center of his face upon seeing the ruby-eyed boy's predicament. Oh, poor Kurotan, does the doggy want inside the house? He could just imagine what was going through Fay's head. Less than one night with this guy and already understood the boy more than cared to.

He certainly had Kurogane beat this time, or at least he though he did. He would show the scrawny bastard. Kurogane did not lose, especially not to prissy blond boys. When he was through, Fay would know that messing with him was asking for pain.

Fay didn't look afraid, though, merely stood there with that plastered-on grin.

"Sorry, that's not right," he trilled. "The magic word is 'please.'"

By now, he could see the top of Tomoyo's head through the glass at the top of the door. He watched uneasily as Fay, grinning, whispered something to her and she chuckled behind her fingers. At this point, he considered simply cutting his losses and sleeping on the veranda. The weather was nice enough for it. And better yet, they had to open the door at some point, then he'd throttle the dumb-ass. He could wait; he slid down the door, back resting against the smooth oak and legs crossed. Fay, of course, had the exquisite courtesy to open the door at that very moment. Kurogane felt his head hit the tile with a 'thunk', found himself staring up into Fay's baby blues that were filled with mirth. He clutched at his aching skull, growling.

"Uwaaah," the blond chirped. "That's going to leave a nasty bump!"

"No shit, and who's fault is that?!"

The waif-boy squealed and hid behind Tomoyo as the black-haired boy lunged for him once again.

"Tomoyo-chan, save me!" He tried to sound horrified at the menacing Kurogane, but his shoulders quivered in poorly restrained giggles. "The vicious doggy might eat me!" Naturally, he was unable to hold himself back from collapsing into a fit of laughter.

Kurogane decided to sneak around, and the next thing Fay knew those strong fingers had yanked his hair back, making him whimper; he was pinned to the wall like a helpless butterfly. Kurogane's other hand reached to grab at his neck. Not so tightly that it would do any severe damage, but it hurt nonetheless. Fay, he noted with satisfaction, was wide-eyed in fear now.

"Let go of him now, Kurogane," his cousin demanded, with a glare in her blue-violet eyes that rivaled even the strongest of her elder cousin's in intensity. "You're frightening him."

Kurogane looked again, this time seeing the desperate, silent scream on his lips, the way his pulse raced like a frightened bird, sheer terror. He released him, and as he did so Fay slid to the cold floor, pressure loosed from his throat, clutching it, drew his knees up protectively. His eyes closed and breathing heavily, panting.

Kurogane prepared to leave, still angry, but for different reasons now. He felt a tug; Tomoyo had caught his sleeve

"Apologize to Fai-san right now."

"Tch. If he hadn't-"

"Kurogane, he was playing a game with you. He's half your size," the young woman hissed,"You could have injured him, or worse. You were in the wrong and you know it. So apologize to him."

He 'tched' again, nudging the little blond curled up with his foot. "Oi."

Fay raised his head up from his knees, miserable and wounded, expectantly waiting for Kurogane to articulate his regret.

"That- what I did- it was out of line." He held the other boy's watery gaze a moment longer before abruptly dropping it and skulking out of the room.

"Fay-san," Tomoyo knelt, tenderly stroking the boy's hair away from his damp forehead. "Are you alright?"

He nodded, still numb; he wasn't all there. Eyes boring into the creme colored wall, voice cracking, he asked "Is Kurosama always this…pleasant?"

"I don't know if I have a right to tell you why he is the way he is. Then again, I doubt you'll get a peep out of Kurogane if I leave him to explain." She wrung her hands, sighing. "Well, I'll say this much: Life hasn't been very kind to him. My cousin…he used to be different. And now he's angry all the time. He's hurting badly."

"Thank you, Tomoyo-chan. I think I'll be going to bed now, if you don't mind." he murmured, a shaky smile finding its way to his lips, getting to his feet.

"For what?"

His hair flitted about his face as he shook his head, lips shut tight, leaving the girl with pale eyes pondering as he left the room. He bumped into something warm and solid. Kurogane.

"I was coming to tell you that you can have the bed." he cleared his throat awkwardly. "If you want it; the sheets are all on."

His offer was met with one of Fay's grateful expressions, a shy nod. What a sweetie you are, Kuromyuu, Fay thought, but somehow he restrained himself from voicing said thoughts.

Upon seeing that there were not further matters to discuss, Kurogane turned on his heels back the way he'd come. It was the Fay remembered that he had no idea which room was Kurogane's. He turned around in the dim yellow light of the hallway, saw the black void rectangle of an open door, and moved towards it. He flipped the switch on the wall. Inside the room, centered, was a king sized bed with plain white covers, hastily made.

Fay switched off the light and felt his way to the bed and crawled in. He wished, at times like this, that his own skin didn't glow so horrendously. It made it difficult to sleep. He was so tired now, though, that he buried his face in the pillow, wrapping his arms around it, and fell deeply asleep in spite of the way his stomach was knotting.

* * *

Alright, so. I'd been wanting to write the story from chapter 4 onward in Kurogane's first-person point of view, which I've already written out. The thing is, I have a good idea of his character, I think, but I can easily edit it to be in third person if nobody likes the idea. What I'd like to know is what you all prefer. Here's a preview:

_"Idiot," I muttered, reaching my hands out for him to grab onto. The thing was, I figured he had to have **some** substance (stupid me), so I pulled harder than necessary, and ended up with an arm full of drenched, cold, skinny blond boy on me._

Now, a sane person would've apologized and scrambled off. Not Fay, oh no. He wrapped his arms around my neck and pushed his body closer to mine, which was fucking COLD...'

* * *

So. Like it? Love it? Hate it? Feedback is much appreciated. Expect the next chapter (in some form or other) soon-ish.


	4. Stardust

Ah, here we are with the next installment, lovely readers. I hope you've enjoyed thus far. :) Anyway, I none of this is mine, except the plot. And Kurogane swears a lot... Yeah, I think that's all that need be said. I'm working on the next chapter, but it'll be a while. Until next time ~

* * *

He had been sleeping peacefully on the couch, drifting in and out of half-consciousness as the smell of eggs and pancakes wafted around him.

"Kuro-taaan~! Time for breakfast!" Someone bounced on the cushions beside him.

"G'way," he turned his face into the couch, though he knew that it was unavoidable that he would be made to get up anyway. This was Fay they were talking about, after all.

"But Kuro-buu, don't you want your omelet?"

He somehow gathered the energy to open one eye, met with Fay's anticipating face before him. "If I say yes, will you get off me?" The tiny blonde had curled himself around the larger boy, to Kurogane's exasperation.

"Mhm," he chirped, grinning widely, his face much too close to Kurogane's.

"Fine. Off." Kurogane rose and stumbled to the bedroom, taking off his gym shorts and substituting gray jeans and a black t-shirt. Normally he slept in his boxers, but camping out in the public sitting room had put a temporary halt to that. He padded into the brightly lit kitchen after having washed up. It was all orange and yellow trim, with a glass table in the center of the room, a note lying on top.

_Kurogane_

_ We've gone to the mall, be back around eight. Fay wants to go explore by the lake, so I told him you'd be glad to escort him (to make up for last night). If you refuse, my sister's purple hair dye will find its way to you in your sleep. [sadistic winking face] _

_ Have fun, _

_ Tomoyo_

Freaking stupid Tomoyo and her threats. She and Fay were nothing but pains in his ass... Speak of the devil. Well, one of them at least. Fay looked down from his spot by the window at the terrain below.

"I was thinking we should start at the pine tree at the bottom of the hill and head straight along the shore. What does Kuromyuu think?" He cocked his head angelically.

I think this is a waste of time. "Sure, whatever."

"Hyuu hyuu! Let's hurry before it gets too hot."

Kurogane whipped around, an incredulous expression made from his creased-together eyebrows going up toward each other, and fixing that stare at the source of the strange noise. "What the hell was that sound?"

"Mm?"

"That 'hyuu' thing."

"Oh!" He waved his hand around in an airy fashion. "I can't whistle. I've tried, I swear, but that's the best I can do so far," he sounded almost apologetic.

The red-eyed teen made a face like he was praying to whatever deity might be listening that Fay didn't attempt this so-called whistling often. If he was forced to listen to that again...He shook his head to clear his thoughts, customary scowl falling into place.

"Oi, and what about breakfast?" Kurogane added, "That was the reason I got up in the first place, idiot." He squinted curiously at Fay, peeved.

Fay laughed, shrugging "We can take a picnic basket and eat while we're down there. Won't that be fun, Kurochii?" His hands were laced together as he rocked back and forth on the balls of his feet, golden hair highlighted from the sun's rays shining through the window, a beatific smile alighting his face.

Unfortunately, Kurogane wasn't fazed by his cute act, nor was he enthused about having to wait an extended amount of time before getting a meal. He was about to outright refuse when he remembered the letter on the table. Had Fay seen it?

"Tomoyo told me you had to do anything I want, just so you know," the blonde boy said quietly. His voice held a gentle, and yet ominous sort of tone that Kurogane shuddered at the sound of. Apparently, the little bastard had seen the note. For a split second longer, he deliberated on whether or not it was worth it to put up with Fay for a day, or face Tomoyo's "punishment". He was twice her size, anyway, and it wasn't like the human twig was going to force him to walk down that hill...Then again, he did feel that Fay deserved an apology for what had happened last night, and so he made up his mind to go.

"Fine, but we're getting back in a few hours. I have other things I want to do aside from babysitting idiots."

"Waaaah, Kurotan wants to go on a picnic date with me!" Fay exclaimed in melodramatic joy, tackling Kurogane with a hug.

The tan boy snarled as he was almost knocked off balance, immediately attempting to scramble away from his assailant. "Fuck you!"

Fay batted his eyelashes in return. "Oh my, I don't think we know each other well enough for that, Kurotan. You're taking things a bit too fast here," the smaller of the two could hardly stifle his giggles and finally had to resort to unhooking his arms form Kurogane's neck to cover his mouth.

Kurogane should be angry; he should be chasing Fay around the house with sharp objects at the moment, screaming profanities at him for having touched Kurogane like that. What he should not be doing, under any circumstances, was feeling the corner of his mouth twitch into a half-sneer (never a smile) and feeling a tiny sensation of warmth creeping into his chest. That was definitely not supposed to happen

"Bastard."

***

Fay skipped down the steep hill with a cat's grace, while Kurogane took care not to land flat on his face and thereby spilling all the contents of the basket. Fay waited impatiently for the less-than graceful boy at the bottom, smirking like the bastard he was. Then he skipped on ahead as soon as Kurogane made it within fifteen feet of him, pausing every few steps to pick something from the ground. He jogged to catch up, determining then and there to make him cut the bullshit. Maybe he had been rough with him last night, but if he was that fragile then it was his own fault, not Kurogane's. He'd already apologized as much as he was going to. Any issues Fay still had with it were his problem. The tiny voice in his head- the nice voice- played devil's advocate. It might not be his fault, you know. Maybe he's just that way. Of course, the crimson-eyed boy snapped at the voice to shut the hell up before he mentally strangled it. But it felt strange, thinking back to Fay's behavior earlier. Fay hadn't been afraid of him before then, not like other people. Not until he'd pinned the smaller boy to the wall.

Somehow, Fay had supernatural senses, because he just fluttered farther away when Kurogane got too close. Close, meaning within several feet of the idiot. Part of him, well, most of him, advised leaving him there and going back to the house. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't intrigued by him, though; also, I wanted to know what was so special about whatever he was pausing to snatch from the ground. He was tall, but I was taller, unfortunately for him. My strides caught up with him in a matter of seconds. He jumped, mouth gaping, when I grabbed his left wrist. Not hard, but he wouldn't get away. There were rocks in his closed fists

"Any reason you're looking for those?"

He refused to say. All of a sudden he seemed fixated on a certain rock, more so than any of the others. He jerked, suddenly, like he'd just noticed Kurogane was standing there with his hand around his arm and let out a breath he'd been holding.

"Goodness, Kuro-sneaky, you startled me!"

His companion pointedly ignored that. "What're the rocks for?"

"Nothing in particular," he chewed his lip. "Just that someone I know is very fond of them."

"Collector?"

"No, he likes them is all. He isn't able to do much for himself, so I get them when I can," Fay shrugged, turning his head to look out into the water and smiling like he was remembering something.

Fond of...rocks? Okay, that wasn't strange or anything. No wonder Fay was screwed up, if he hung around people who's sole intent in life was collecting rocks. Kurogane almost started feeling sorry for the guy. He dropped his arm and Fay kept walking, but not so far away this time. Not that it bothered him; as long as he could keep him in sight. After a few minutes, he decided it was time to quit rock-picking and now was walking along the grass at the edge of the lake. He held his arms out for balance like a tightrope-walker, one foot in front of the other. He was maybe seven feet ahead of Kurogane when he slipped on a muddy patch and- splash- in he went. When he strode to the place he'd fallen from and looked down, he saw a drop of at least three feet. Fay was a few inches away, sputtering for air, but otherwise alright. The rocks he'd collected were no longer in his hand, a revelation that made him appear upset.

He tread water fine, but Kurogane realized that the boy wasn't getting out anytime soon without help. And, irritating as he was, it was apparent to anyone that the water was cold enough to induce hypothermia.

"Help?" He smiled like he was oblivious to that fact, but despite that his lips were turning blue and his teeth were chattering.

"Idiot," Kurogane muttered, reaching his hands out for him to grab onto. The thing was, he figured he had to have some substance (stupid of him to think), so he obliviously pulled harder than necessary, and ended up with an arm full of drenched, cold, skinny blond boy on top of him

Now, a sane person would've apologized and scrambled off. Not Fay, oh no. He wrapped his arms around Kurogane's heated neck and pushed his body closer, which was fucking COLD.

"Get the hell off!"

He shivered, pressing closer still and digging his fingers into broad, tan shoulders while his nose rubbed against Kurogane's neck, much to the chagrin of the larger boy. In that moment, he felt the bones of his back, like a bird, under his hands.

"I'm cold." That was all he said, all it took for the other to register that they needed to get him back to the house to dry off and get warm as quickly as possible.

"Then get up," Kurogane growled, seemingly offering Fay no sympathy whatsoever

"But Kuro-myuu is warm."

By that time Fay's human heater realized he wasn't letting go of him any time soon. With a huff, he lifted the shaking wet boy over his shoulder (God, he was so flimsy and light) and traipsed back up the hill to the house.

* * *

He managed to get Fay inside and took him into the large bathroom adjoining Kurogane's room. What he had not managed to do was get the boy's sopping wet clothes off him. It wasn't only because he was drenched from freezing lake water that Kurogane wanted the garment off, because Kurogane would gladly have left him alone if that was the case- the guy could dry himself. The problem was the dark reddish color that seeped through the white shirt just below his shoulder-blades, staining the material from the inside out. He was bleeding, and pretty badly at that. But apparently that wasn't good enough of a reason for Kurogane to want to stay and look him over. Kurogane had briefly considered that Fay could be self-conscious, though judging from Fay's temperament, it was unlikely, and the thought was wiped from his mind almost as quickly as it had surfaced. There was no good and believable reason for the idiot to refuse his help so blatantly.

"Kuro-sama, it's fine," he protested, backing away from his well-meaning offender, hands held up in surrender as he tried to put space between them. Kurogane frowned, reaching out with one hand.

"Your back is bleeding. How's that fine?" the Japanese boy hissed, red eyes boring into Fay's pale blue; "Let's see you reach back there to treat it. Unless you want it to get infected." Fay flinched, looking down at his feet. He'd backed himself into a corner, both literally and figuratively, with Kurogane pinning him against the wall with a well-placed stare. And, to tell the truth, Fay didn't enjoy it a bit. For one thing, it reminded him too much of last night. The instinct to flee that welled up inside him was so strong he could feel it rising in his throat like bile. But he wasn't going to allow Kurogane to get close enough to see what precisely was wrong with him. The young man was already too observant for his tastes. So he conjured up a smile like a summer breeze, attempting to sift through Kurogane's prying gaze.

"It's only a little scratch, nothing to worry so much over," he laughed, hoping that Kurogane wouldn't catch the distress in the laughter, "I promise I'll take care of it myself."

Kurogane bit his lip hesitantly, taken aback by the boy's level of distress. "There's no way-"

Fay cut him off, grinning. "Don't worry, I'm extremely flexible," he said. As if he had read Kurogane's mind and was trying to placate him in any way possible. "I'll just take a hot bath and come out fresh and new!"

That really wasn't it though, not all of it at least. More than the anger that the tan boy felt, was a sense of disappointment. Whilst they had only known one another for a couple of days, and he'd spent most of that time either avoiding Fay or terrifying him, until today-- Kurogane had saved his life, in spite of all the misgivings he held about the blond, all the enmity Kurogane directed at him... he didn't think the boy actually deserved to suffer, no matter how annoying he could be. Surely Fay could see that now?

He reluctantly nodded. "But if you're not out soon, I'm coming in to check on you anyway," Kurogane warned. "And I don't care if I have to kick the door in, got it?"

The other boy smiled back at him, heart-meltingly sweet. "Thank you, I won't be long."

Kurogane walked out, leaving the blue-eyed boy with the click of the door. Fay slowly pulled off the bloody shirt with delicately maneuvered hands and threw it on the green tile floor, discarding his pants along with it. Then, he turned the bathtub faucet to a satisfying temperature and climbed in the over-sized tub. He sighed in bliss as the water seeped into his skin, taking the place of the frosty lake water, warming the chilled bones and relaxing him. His thoughts floated to the Japanese boy. 'Kurotan certainly notices all the unnecessary things, ne?' he thought to himself. He'd have to be more careful than ever not to allow Kurogane to glimpse too much of who he was. It would mean less trouble for the both of them in the long run.

After a few minutes of letting his nerves settle, he washed his hair and body, and made to exit the bathtub. Darn, he'd forgotten to grab a towel. He tracked water all over the bathroom as he went to find one. Shivering, he opened a linen closet and nabbed a green towel to dry his hair, but he placed himself in front of the mirror to look at his back before he finished drying. The bleeding on his back had stopped, and it wasn't very painful at all. He'd been correct in telling Kurogane that they were only minor scratches...compared to what they could have been. Holding his breath, he closed his eyes and concentrated. When he opened the sapphire-colored orbs again, the red streaks had vanished as if they'd never been there. Next time, it might not be so easy, he chided himself.

"Oi!" A raucous voice interrupted his thoughts, "Are you still in there?"

Fay chuckled, "Where would I have gone? Of course I'm in here."

The voice grumbled, "I meant are you finished?" Kurogane grasped the concept that he should have been more specific in his wording.

"Yep."

"OK, well, Tomoyo got new clothes for you, so open up if want something to wear," he ordered. No sooner had the last words left his tongue that the door was flung open, and there stood that skinny blue-eyed boy with his face alight and damp flaxen hair made slightly darker from the bath, wearing no more than a towel around his waist. Said boy managed to slip on the puddle of water he'd left and landed in the sturdy arms of his companion. "Watch it, idiot!" Luckily, Kurogane was on carpet, and the force of the collision wasn't enough to knock him down this time.

"Ahaha, oops. I forgot about the water I tracked," Fay admitted sheepishly, "But Kuropippi caught me, so it's OK!" Kurogane, truthfully, was torn between wishing to send the guy flying to the other side of the room again, and gripping harder on Fay's shoulders tighter. His skin was incredibly smooth, and still warm from the bath, a texture that sent odd feelings to Kurogane's stomach and made his breath catch. He roughly set Fay on his feet, and handed over a pile of clothing.

"Just make sure to clean up before you come out. I'm helping with dinner preparations," he told Fay before leaving to help his cousins again in the kitchen. But he would have used any excuse to get away from this eccentric boy who made him feel so strange. There was something just not right about Fay, in more ways then Kurogane knew.


	5. Rocket

Hello, hello lovely readers. :D This chapter took a while longer than I had originally planned, due to schoolwork and my dislike of the way it was originally written. *sigh* But here it is! And here you are, so you might as well stick around, eh? *ties readers to a chair*

* * *

**_Chapter 5: Rocket_**

* * *

Kurogane found himself wandering outside on the large veranda after their meal of fish and sauteed vegetables, alone with his frustrating thoughts. He recalled the incidents of the day, from the early afternoon when Fay had fallen into the lake and he had carried him to the house, to when Fay had tripped, fallen into his arms because of his carelessness with the water on the floor. Remembering the smooth, pale skin so close to his for only a second, caused his face to heat up at the memory. There had been an odd feeling gripping his chest tightly back then, like a vice, and he couldn't quite place it. Although he knew that it was unlike anything he'd ever felt before, light and comfortably warm, yet raising his pulse, giving him the feeling of drowning, suffocatingly thick.

Part of him liked it, but the rest of him was completely loathe to admit it. Wait, he definitely was not developing feelings for the irksome little blonde. As a matter of fact, the boy embodied nearly every trait that Kurogane hated in a person. Every other word that flowed out of those rosy lips was untrue, misleading; and the cracked smile that accompanied the lies made Kurogane die a little each time and his burning desire to shake him as a reminder that he shouldn't have to pretend grew with each time he saw Fay's pearly whites. And let's not forget Fay's penchant for getting himself into dangerous situations and forcing Kurogane to save his sorry ass. He'd met the boy four days ago; less than a weak in his presence, and already Kurogane was thinking about him more than he would have liked. When, or better yet _how_ the freak had that happened?

The answer came so easily when he was bent on ignoring the emotions that were plaguing him, thrust them aside: It wasn't happening, end of story. There was no matter that he had saved Fay, had worried over the pitiful creature today, or even that he and Fay had finally managed to spend a bit of time together without Kurogane wishing to decapitate him. None of that had to mean that they were anything more than friends, right? Fay was none of his business, honestly. Right, he concluded, putting the internal debate to rest once and for all, or so he thought. In a corner of his mind, however, he understood that the war going on between the half with the pride, and the more tender side of himself, was a far cry from being over. _Why did I feel like I wanted to protect him so much today? What the hell is wrong with me? _He paced back and forth for a long time, breathing out a loud, frustrated sigh at random intervals. For now, nothing could be done, so he resigned himself to riding it out (a tactic he rarely liked to use), and slipped inside to his room.

Once in bed, his mind was stuck on replay of all the moments he and Fay had been together, even if only for a short while, and Kurogane was forced to watch the scenes unfold. An hour later, he'd yet to see a fraction of rest. By then, Kurogane admitted that he might be wrong about his involvement with Fay. He wanted to spend more time with him, and he would allow the rest of these sensations to fall into place as they were meant to.

* * *

As Kurogane left the bathroom nearest to the bedroom their guest was currently inhabiting, he listened to the pained sounds coming from said guest. Really, it wasn't his nature to pry, yet he could not stop himself from quietly opening the bedroom door and sneaking a glance at the small form on the gigantic bed. More noises emitted from the boy who was curled up beneath the sheet, having kicked the large comforter away in his struggles, wishing to awaken Fay (not least of all because he wanted to avoid the embarrassment of Fay's teasing him for being sweet or caring, or some crap like that). But there was a tug inside his chest toward the lithe and whimpering boy that was eased only by Kurogane's decision to find out what the hell was wrong with Fay and do something to fix it. This was just getting absurd, if you asked Kurogane's opinion. What if he got louder and woke everybody up? So, now that he was at the bedside, he had to think of some way to wake the boy from his nightmare.

"Oi. Oi, wake up," he hissed, low and abrupt, wishing that he could be louder. Well, it was possible, but he also risked startling Fay, and Kurogane decided that it was better to be gentle to start with. Unfortunately, his orders went unheeded and Fay only whined more, clutching the pillowcase in his shaking hand. More drastic measures were needed, obviously. Slowly, in the even that Fay decided to wake up all of a sudden, Kurogane gave him a firm shake. Fay uttered a frightened and pained gasp in his sleep, yet still didn't wake up. Frowning, the irritated boy gripped him harder, shook more violently, to no avail. When he'd been a young child and had the occasional nightmare, the slightest touch could have woken him. Apparently, Fay was an exceedingly heavier sleeper than Kurogane. "C'mon, you bastard, you're keeping me up!" He really didn't want to have to explain to the girls why he was in the room with Fay, if it so happened that one of them woke up from Fay's soft screams. At the rate they were going, he thought, that was a distinct possibility.

Then, to the vermilion-eyed boy's astonishment, the strange white glow that emitted from Fay grew stronger, brilliant enough to blind Kurogane with its intensity. Startled, Kurogane threw his hands in front of his face, as the light only gained in brightness. As soon as the light dimmed to allow sufficient opening of his eyes without risk to permanent damage, he blinked, casting a look over his surroundings. Which, by the way, were definitely not Fay's bed room. For one thing, it was daylight here. By the sun casting heavy shadows on a luxurious green meadow, he figured it must be the after noon. The air was moist, yet not heavy, and a sustainable temperature. In the distance were trees of numerous mauve, goldenrod, teal, evergreen, and orange, which made Kurogane believe it was autumn.

And yet another direction, to the east, was a tundra of snow, with purple and coal blue mountains added in the background. He felt a sharp, icy wind coming from that direction, causing him to shiver in the bright sunlight. But that wasn't possible. No place he'd ever read about could have four season present all at once, or that much climate variation in such a minuscule area. More importantly, what was this land and how had he gotten here? This entire place went against all the laws of physics that he'd been taught (He was only in ninth grade, after all). Something felt off to him, something important, but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. He decided to push it to the back of his thoughts for the time being, knowing that it wouldn't help him escape this area, or wake up.

_Well, no use staying around here,_ he made up his mind, and trekked straight on to the forest, hoping to find some clue as to where this alien land was located. Better yet, some way to get back to the house. Perhaps he'd been sleepwalking a good long while, and had just now woken up. Then Kurogane nearly smacked himself. This was a dream, it must be. He knew for a fact that he had been in the bedroom with Fay, and then just as he'd prepared to call it quits and allow Fay to handle his nightmare alone, he'd landed here. So, it was the most logical thing to assume, he decided, that he was probably crushing Fay as his body had finally succumbed to exhaustion. Not he could be blamed if he was; last time he'd looked at a clock, it had been past two in the morning. Exactly what had compelled him to enter the boy's room was beyond him, as he it went against his natural behavior of avoiding Fay as well as he was able.

* * *

Doing the one thing he knew to wake himself up, he pinched himself hard. Yeah, no such luck.

"Fuck," he grumbled, "then what happened here?"

This was probably that damn blond's fault that he was stuck here. He was going to wring his scrawny little neck when he saw him again for interrupting his rest. "Here that, bastard?" he shouted to the far away mountains. At present time, complaining had no purpose here. Kurogane was determined to make it to some sort of civilization. Even a screwed-up dream world had to have that much. Unless it was Fay who made this place. Maybe he was inside one of Fay's dreams. That was highly unlikely, since Kurogane distinctly remembered the frail boy wracked with sobs of agony from the events that were plaguing him in his mind. Here, it may have been boring as hell, but it was rather peaceful from what he had seen. And the young man considered himself to be quite an astute observer, if he did say so himself.

He jolted when he noticed an oddly familiar figure, creamy white skin and corn silk hair, out of the corner of his eye, coming from the snow-covered area. Was that Fay, seriously? Yes, the visage approached him, forming into something more tangible. If this was a dream, it was the most realistic one his mind had ever come up with; scratch that, that anyone's mind could fabricate. The closer Fay came, the better he could see the panic etched on his countenance.

"Kuro-chan," Fay said desperately to him, in a voice that was pained, ethereal, compared to his voice in the waking world. "I've been calling for you, but I suppose you hadn't heard me. I'm going to send you back, because you need to wake up now," he said, worry crossing over his china blue eyes, glowing like a white-hot flame. Kurogane barely caught their irises.

"You have to leave, it's dangerous..." While he was dressed in the same green shorts and white shirt he'd worn to bed, there was something...spectacular about him here. To put it simply, Fay in this form was breathtaking, but he would never admit to thinking that. As he was lost his trail of thought, there again was that slow flash of white, obscuring all of Kurogane's vision, tearing through his retina, had he not covered his face.

"Wait-!" He begged, wishing in a longing frustration to understand what had just occurred, but Fay payed him no heed. The boy had his own agenda, and it seemed that listening to Kurogane's request would be too great a cost at this point.

"I'm sorry, Kuro. I promise I'll be right behind you. No worries, ne?"

"Screw you, bastard! You're going to tell me what's going on, and it better be soon!" Kurogane bellowed as he watched the peculiar world vanish from his squinting vision.

Kurogane, as he'd predicted, woke half atop Fay, sideways on the bed. He suspected he had even drooled a little, if the wet spot on the beige comforter was anything to be said about it. Looking down at the sleeping boy, now peaceful, he blushed at the sight. Oh, god no, there was no way he was getting a crush on this dumb ass. With disdain, he scrambled off the bed with ninja-like skill. He was nearly to the end of the room when he heard Fay stirring.

"Kurorinta...where you going?" The sleepiness in his heavy words showed through plainly, yet Kurogane heard the pleading behind them as well. "I liked it when you stayed with me...made me warm..." With that he trailed off, only able to fight so much in his tired state.

The Japanese boy felt his cheeks flaring with heat again, but he made up his mind. The whole 'don't feel anything for Fay' plan was working brilliantly, really it was. He gruffly made his way to the opposite side of the bed and sat down, leaning against the headboard. Ignoring Fay's pitiful sounds, he glared down halfheartedly in his drowsy state and tried to focus his eyes in the dark.

Just then, a strange difference between how Fay had been before, and how he was now dawned upon him: the boy was glowing no more. Save for his brilliant blue eyes, but faint still. No longer could his slim frame be sought from yards away. Now, Kurogane had to search for his cobalt orbs in the dark, watching as they disappeared and reemerged with every time the boy blinked.

"I had dream," he began, unsure of how to draw Fay into the conversation. Fay's response was a simple, quiet 'hyuu?' and a flash of blue at half-mast. The both of them were at the end of their consciousness, but he felt that this was important. Maybe he would get answers, or at the very least some clue as to what was happening. "It was some freaky place...like the world had gone haywire...I can't describe it...You were there, though," he finished, at a loss for what else to say. If there _was_ anything more.

"Oh? And what precisely were we doing in this dream of yours, Kurochii?" Fay propped himself up on his elbow, facing Kurogane with a devilish smirk. Kurogane bristled, thinking that Fay was going to tease him further, and was relieved when he laughed in that self-deprecating way he had. "Seriously though, I had a dream about you, too." he whispered, fingering the pillow slip he lay on, gazing at the larger boy from underneath his pale eyelashes. "It was very nice, actually."

"Yeah?" Kurogane almost held his breath, waiting to hear if Fay's dream had matched his in any way, so he could prove that the strange world had been as real as he'd felt it to be. Rather than answer, Fay wriggled beneath the blankets once more giddily, humming in pleasure.

"Oi, tell me!" He blew air out from between his clenched teeth, knowing that he wasn't getting anywhere with these tactics. "Know what? Fine, don't tell me. I bet it was stupidly ridiculous anyhow." There, maybe that clever reverse-psychology had convinced him?

Fay yawned, "Maybe tomorrow, I'm worn out to bits," he murmured, closing his eyes. Kurogane made to slide out of the bed, frustrated at the fact that his attempt at fishing information out of the blond had been in vain. Desperate for company, unable to watch his knight in shining armor walk away, Fay grabbed onto his wrist to keep him from escaping. "Stay. Please."

For the first time, Fay had attempted honesty. Kurogane didn't believe in coddling, but he knew that Fay deserved some form of reward for his endeavors, since it was probably a difficult thing to do. A flashback to a few minutes ago, right before their conversation, hit Kurogane, made his stomach flutter: _I liked it when you stayed with me_... Grunting, he shifted down so he was lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling. "I'm only doing this because it would just be more trouble to get to my room, and I'm my cousins would freak if they saw me on the hallway floor next mornin'. Plus, you might wake the whole house up if you start having bad dreams again."

"Is that all?"

"Hn."

Fay smiled at him gratefully, and took his hand without asking permission. His heart ached, knowing that he couldn't honor the questions the Japanese boy had posed with answers that he wanted, not yet. Kurogane stared down at their entwined fingers, alternating cream and cinnamon, and turned his head away to hide the burning of his face even in the dark. A muted chuckle came from Fay, like a music without melody.

"Well, thank you anyway, Kuro-snuggle."

He was certain he could hear Kurogane's accepting grunt pierce the silence of the large room.

* * *

So, tell me what you thought of it please? Reviews are very encouraging to a writer, y'know. *whistles innocently* Next chapter, I'm thinking we'll have a look into Kurogane's childhood...


	6. Floating

My, my, it's been a while hasn't it? School and graduation are pain to deal with. I'll try to be faster on the updates, but no promises. Definitely it won't be this long. But here's a longish chapter to make up for it, yes?

* * *

**Chapter 6**

**

* * *

**

Luckily, Kurogane woke up quite a while before anyone else. He had fallen asleep against the headboard, and now had a rather painful crick in his neck from it. Stretching to relieve the tension, he realized that, to complicate matters even further, Fay was still resting comfortably with his head on Kurogane's lap. The Japanese boy looked down at the blond, grimacing. Should he wake him up, or risk being seen by someone in such a compromising position? Fay had probably tossed and turned all night long from his bad dreams until Kurogane had come into his room, and he thought that maybe it wouldn't hurt to allow him to sleep a while longer. He silently moved Fay over, holding his breath as he murmured in his sleep, then slid out of the bed and made a break for the door. To his immense relief, Fay stayed put.

After finding a dark green t-shirt and a pair slightly wrinkled jeans, Kurogane showered and dressed in the bathroom. Midway through putting his pants on, there was a soft knock at the door.

"Yeah?"

"Kendappa's made crepes for breakfast," Tomoyo said through the wall. "Hurry up before they get cold."

"Just a second," he replied, slightly muffled as he was pulling the shirt over his head. When he came out, Tomoyo was already gone. He stepped down into the sunken living room and headed into the kitchen area, where the smell of spinach and cheese, strawberries, and sausage crepes floated in the air. The kitchen was still warm, and someone had opened a window to allow a cool mountain breeze to float in. For some reason or other, something felt off to Kurogane. In about ten seconds he figured it out: Fay was missing from the scene.

"Oi, the idiot hasn't woken up yet?" He queried, carefully keeping any noticeable concern out of his voice.

The girl shook her head, casting her long ponytail from side to side. "He hasn't come down yet. I do hope he isn't sick. Kurogane, be a dear and go check on him for me," Tomoyo commanded, flicking her hand toward the general direction of the bedrooms, in a tone that left no room for argument. Well, everything had room for arguing where Kurogane was concerned, but he wanted to make certain Fay was alright anyway, so he trudged down the short hallway. She chuckled softly to herself at Kurogane's begrudging sound of acquiescence. He really was too sweet for his own good, even if he refused to acknowledge it.

Just as he'd thought, the boy still hadn't moved.

"Oi, you," he barked, shaking him, "Quit being a lazy ass and get outta bed."

"But Kuromyuuuu, I feel as if I've barely slept at all," he complained, blinking at him with exhausted blue eyes, "Just a few more minutes, please..."

Kurogane was going to have none of that. "You should have something to eat first. Then you can go back to sleep if you're still tired." There, he was being lenient enough, he figured. Fay seemed to accept that condition, because he sat up in bed, hugging a pillow to his chest. His head bobbed forward as he rubbed his eyes. He yawned and squirmed some more, arching his back. Kurogane heard a popping noise when he did that.

"Well then, good morning Kurosama," Fay chirped. "What've we got planned for today?" His swarthy companion simply stared back at him incredulously. The look that Fay returned was one of mixed amusement and curiosity. "Is something wrong? Is my hair really that bad?" Fay giggled self-consciously, running his fingers through the fine platinum strands. It always tangled so easily, most of all when he had a bad night. And he counted last night to be among one of the worst, he truly felt as though he hadn't slept a wink.

"Tch. Your hair isn't bad," Kurogane assured him, trying to look at something other than Fay as he combed it through with his hands. He was so not staring, damn it! And he sure as hell didn't think that Fay looked utterly adorable with his glazed sapphire eyes gazing at him from heavy eyelids, or the way he beamed up at him from behind the pillow. Not one bit. "I'm going eat. Hurry up and get dressed," he ordered Fay, wanting to get away from the blond well before he was caught staring. He hastily ran from the room. Stupid Fay and his pretty eyes and fake smile. Kurogane wanted to rip the butterflies that formed in his gut and smash them into a million pieces. Soon, though, he discovered that he could no more do that than he could stop them in the first place. He growled to himself, casting another menacing glare toward the room as he left. He wasn't far along when Fay, practically still hopping into his pants, emerged from the bedroom, a smile on his face as sunny as the very morning.

Tomoyo watched as Kurogane emerged, followed closely by Fay, who was yawning, and consequently, paying little attention to where he was going. When the slighter boy stumbled into Kurogane, she noticed a distinct lack of hostility coming from her cousin for the offense. Instead, he cursed under his breath, scolding as he pushed Fay upright, steadying him. The pale boy beamed at him sweetly, in gratitude. That was all it took for Kurogane's face to color, gritting his teeth to keep the flush from spreading all the way up to his ears. His efforts were unfruitful, and Tomoyo warmed at the sight. Ohohoho, this was going to be a treat, better than she had hoped, in fact.

Fay was practically stitched to Kurogane until they came to the round mahogany table in the dining corner of the kitchen, at which point the grump shook off the giggling parasite. Why did that idiot insist on being a human leech when it came to him? It wasn't as if Fay acted that way toward Tomoyo, or god forbid, the other girls. Kurogane was simple, didn't ask for much in life, but his personal space was sacred to him.

"Good morning Tomoyo, Souma, Kendappa," Fay greeted them. Souma offered the basket of crepes to him, and he took two strawberry-filled pastries. Disdainful of most fruit, Kurogane nabbed a spinach and ham roll. As they dug into their food, Fay hummed in delight at the sweet tang of fruit that assaulted his taste buds. Every so often, he looked up at the other boy, which earned him a scowl, and a kick in the shins. He knew that the irritable young man mouthed "dumb ass" somewhere in there, too. Yet, he couldn't stop the grin from spreading across his face, which only served to make Kurogane even more flustered, until Tomoyo came to her cousin's rescue.

"Boys, I need a favor of you," began Tomoyo, "Well, Kurogane mostly, but I think Fay should get out and see the town as well. Go to the bazaar and find the fabric shop, and deliver this," she produced a sealed letter from her pocket, "to the girl with the pink hair. Her name's Karen. Don't worry, she'll know it's from me." The girl left, smugly, picking up their plates to take them to be washed.

"Do I look like your freaking errand boy?"

She clapped her hands, a spray of soapy water hitting Kurogane dead in the face, "As a matter of fact, I have to say that you do. I'm not a slave driver, Kurogane, you'll get your reward for it later. So, are we understood?"

"No," he began

"Kuro-sama, I want to go see the village, it sounds exciting," Fay butted in. That, along with Tomoyo's constant badgering, finally broke his will

"Alright, fine," he groused, "we can go. But if you do one ridiculous thing, I'll leave your sorry ass there for the shopkeepers to do with as they please."

Fay smiled pleasantly enough, but a peculiar twist lie in the corners of his mouth when Kurogane spoke the words. Nonetheless, he asked if it was alright for them to go now, since wouldn't Kuropyon like to get an early start to the day?

"'Suppose," he replied, shrugging, because he really didn't care about what time they got there, especially after his lack of rest. Not like he had an appointment or anything. Fay was so enthusiastic about their outing that he decided it was best to give into his demands quickly, if only for the reason that he didn't want to have to deal with the blond's mouth running at supersonic speed in order to get him out of the house. Honestly, if it saved him a headache in the near future, Kurogane was more than willing to comply.

As soon as the couple was in sight of the tiny village's cobblestone streets, Fay was running at breakneck speed to the edge of the little town, and since he had yet to let go of Kurogane's hand (Kurogane hadn't worked up the nerve to snatch it away from him yet), the Japanese boy was subject to his bout of childish and enthusiastic glee. Fay stopped once they reached the shop Tomoyo had mentioned, with Kurogane panting, clutching at his ribs as if he were about to collapse at any moment.

"This is the place, I think," Fay said to himself. "Let's give the letter quickly so we can go explore the other stores!" Fay urged, completely oblivious to Kurogane's out of breath state. Of course, that earned him a glare from vermilion eyes, a snarl emitted from the thin lips.

"How...the hell do...you run...like that? That isn't normal," he panted. Fay jerked, wondering how he was getting out of this one. Every day, Kurogane learned more, and it was harder to mask who and what he was from the boy. Sooner or later, he was going to have to come clean. For the time being, he answered vaguely "I've had to run a lot in my life, I suppose, always have. And I guess I ended up being quite good at it." His irritable companion gave him a funny look, similar to all those other times when Fay had mentioned something that he didn't know whether or not he should believe. He was always suspicious of anything that came from Fay's mouth. Kurogane grunted, pushing off from his knees and dusting himself off.

"Let's get this over with," he grumbled, "then I can get back to the house and make an effort to take back the sleep I missed." The blonde boy looked up at him as though he were disappointed in Kurogane's lack of attention to his desires.

"Sorry, Kurochan, I honestly didn't mean to keep you up all night," the waif apologized, "but I was hoping that we might have a look around here. I've never been to a town like this before." His voice dripped with pitiful woe-is-me sorrow, so much so that even a person as rigid as Kurogane could feel his constitution give way.

"What do you mean 'never been to a town before'? You must have lived under a rock," Kurogane decided, incredulity creeping into his tone, along with anxious excitement in his chest. He breathed in slowly, understanding what this meant: He had the chance to show Fay something that he had never experienced before. For whatever reason, this thought made him quake inside, although on the surface he remained as stoic as always. "Hmph. I guess I'll have to be the one to teach you how to get around places. It'd be stupid if you got your ass lost and didn't even know how to help yourself."

Fay grinned maniacally, looping his arms around Kurogane neck and almost sending him careening. By now, Kurogane was beginning to grow used to Fay's odd displays of affection, even if he refused adamantly to reciprocate them. "Thank you, Kurosama!" And Kurogane, growling, unlatched him.

"Whatever. Hurry up before I change my mind." He abruptly turned his face away from the blond and skulked away in search of Karen, the seamstress and owner of the little shop. Not a moment later, a woman in her late twenties emerged from the back room, green eyes sparkling with a secretly knowing mirth and hair pink like a cotton candy puff. She was carrying a bolt of fabric in her arms as she approached the boys, elegantly floating across the room in her dress and heels.

"Ah, you must be Kurogane. Your cousin said you were delivering something to me, I believe?" The woman smiled at Kurogane amicably, and so he tugged the letter out of his pocket to give to her, nodding. "Can I offer you and your friend anything else?"

Kurogane hastily shook his head, which made him seem more rude in his eagerness to leave than he himself realized. Not that he had meant it in that sort of fashion, but he couldn't think of a place he'd want to spend time in less than this on his day off. And, if he was completely honest with himself, he wanted to show Fay around the plaza. He hadn't visited this place except for once or twice when he was a young child, but surely the bakery and candle factory were still here? Yes, they must be, for he was bound and determined to make this memorable for Fay.

"You're sure? I could whip up some chai, if that suits you," the woman, Karen, was lacking in customers for the time being and was probably craving the company. Still, they had plans, and there wasn't any point in wasting time here.

"No thanks, we've got stuff to do," he said firmly, taking hold of his companion's hand and leading him out into the cobblestone street, as Fay waved politely back at Karen. By the time they were away from the fabric shop, Fay had taken to swinging their linked hands back and forth. Of course, it was this portrayal of glee by which Kurogane came to terms with the fact that he was actually holding Fay's hand. And he had been the one to initiate it this time, no less, even if it had been a spur-of-the-moment, subconscious deal. Really, he hadn't a clue how to act. The blonde certainly seemed happy with the physical contact, and to his utter amazement, he found that he didn't want to let go either. But that wouldn't stop him from griping, "Oi, easy. It's harder to show someone around when your arm's been torn off by a maniac."

Fay got the message. He smirked up at Kurogane and clenched his fingers around the other's softly. "Where to first, Kuro-buu? I have a feeling this is going to be quite a lovely day."

Three hours into their excursion, Kurogane was having serious regrets about having agreed to take Fay out. Anyone who saw the waif would think that he was starving himself. They would be sorely mistaken; Fay had stopped to sample nearly every food they had come across, including fried chocolate and nigiri sushi (which he promptly spat out the second he tasted the raw fish. Kurogane snorted at him for that "Stupid. You knew what those were made of, so why'd you waste my money on trying one?" "Hyuu, sorry Kurotan. I thought it might end up tasting better than it looked," Fay had apologized, but in that way that made Kurogane think he wasn't very sorry at all, just trying to be polite.)

Currently, Fay was licking at vanilla ice-cream stacked high on top of a sugary cone whilst Kurogane nursed a can of green tea. The one good thing that had come of this situation, in Kurogane's opinion, was that Fay had taken to wiping his sticky fingers with a napkin, and so he had let go of his hand in order to do so.

When the two passed by a toy store, Fay tugged on his hand again, exclaiming loudly "Ooh, let's go see the stuffed animals! I'll bet they have a black doggy for you to buy me!"

"Why would I do that?" Kurogane crossed his arms in a haughty fashion, pouting. Fay reached up, gently poking at his cheek to get his attention. This merely earned him a growl of warning, though that hardly deterred the lunatic boy.

And, that said, he whisked him through the front door. Inside the store, there were toys for all sorts of children, blocks and antique model trains, and of course the walls lined with the plushies that Fay was so eager to see. Despite this, Kurogane knew that everything in the place was hand-made, and therefore very pricey. Quickly, Fay skittered over to the shelf with puppies, craning his neck back in order to see all the way to the uppermost shelf. He scanned the wall, and in the end his lively blue eyes fixated on a black dog with pointed ears and a tail looped over its back. All the way at the very top, at least five feet taller than Kurogane. Fay grinned like a cat that had found the cream, pointing his finger at the newly found object of his desires and turning to his friend, "Kurochyuu, I like that one right there."

Kurogane huffed, weighing his options: Fork over money for a damn stuffed animal, thus pleasing Fay and giving Kurogane the right to his very soul. Or, refuse to buy the toy, and risk having the blonde boy embarrassing him to death with his melodramatic crying for the rest of the day. Yeah, the right choice was pretty obvious. "Lemme find someone who can get it. I'll be back."

Fay squealed, dancing around in front of the display until he nearly tripped and knocked over a stack of action figures. He heard a man give a disapproving grunt, and sheepishly sat down on the floor, awaiting Kurogane's return. And when said companion did come back, Fay would surely tell him that this had been the best day of his life, as he had decided at that precise moment that it was.

"Thirty fucking dollars!" Kurogane threw his hands up in the air, almost hitting Fay in the nose, as they continued down the street. "I can't believe that stupid thing cost me that much. I bet it only cost five dollars to for them to make it, too." Fay just shook his head, laid his hand on Kurogane's bicep; the boy looked down at him when he felt the warmth on his arm. "What," he snapped, more than irritable now that he had spent a good chunk of his vacation money on such a trivial thing.

Fay smiled gratefully, endearing, so that Kurogane felt his anger being soothed away similar to a wave crumbling a sand mound. "Thank you, Kurosama," he said, a happy yet mournful tint in his eyes, "I think...no one's ever gotten me something as a gift before. I wish-"

But something, or someone to be more accurate, stopped him mid-sentence. A rather slim, yet imposing man with shoulder-length hair, hanging over his golden eye like a black curtain, took one step towards a petrified Fay. Even from their brief interaction, Kurogane glimpsed an understanding that this man made Fay uncomfortable. He moved to say something, but Fay merely shook his head, grabbed his wrist and quickly lead him off in the direction they'd just come. When they came to the edge of building, Fay slid down the wall, covering his face with his hands. Grimacing, Kurogane knelt beside the boy, reaching a hand out to touch Fay's shoulder. Fay gave hardly any indication that he noticed the gesture.

He had to go back now. Fay sensed his magic dwindling here in this realm, and knew that he had little more than enough to bring himself home now; to open up the portal one last time. Feeling Kurogane's harsh stare cutting through his back, he turned around, a shaking smile plastered to his face. Could he really bring himself to leave this boy? If he stayed, they could experience their relationship to its full potential. Fay would be liberated from his pain, his responsibility for all that he had instigated in his world. No, he couldn't run away just yet. There was someone who still needed him in his own realm. After that, in the improbable and unlikely possibility that he managed to escape again, he'd find his way to Kurogane. But now there just wasn't enough time to explain his troubles to his impatient friend.

After a minute or so of watching Fay sit before him like a silent, pensive and moping gargoyle, Kurogane decided that enough was enough; he clenched at his companion's arm hard with blunt fingers. "Alright, what's got you?"

Fay snapped out of his deep reverie, squeezing Kurogane's arm in return before springing to his feet. Biting his lip, he sighed wearily, "I need to go back to where I came from."

"So, I'll take you there. Point the way."

The downcast slant of Fay's head told him that his idea was impossible. More complicated matters were involved. The blonde shook his head at the utterly confused teenager gritting his teeth, as if Kurogane were a small child incapable of grasping a simple concept. "You can't take me back. It isn't here. I'm so sorry, Kurosama, but I have to go." Already he felt the swell of magic in his chest, drawing him, beating inside right next to his fluttering heart.

"Then show me," Kurogane bit back. "I'm coming with you whether you like it or not." As an emphasis, he entwined his fingers with Fay's pale, slender ones tightly. Fay glanced down, trying to extricate himself from the hold, but Kurogane held fast.

Now the magic was surfacing, causing the same white-hot light to pulse from Fay's skin just like in Kurogane's dream the previous night. Kurogane jerked his hand back, hissing at the pain caused from the light, but quickly and assuredly grasped him once again, refusing to be parted from Fay.

"Kurosama, you really must let go of me." He tried slithering out of the way, to no avail as those large hands held fast to his shoulders. Looking up into his eyes, Fay placed a hand on Kurogane's bewildered face, warning "I don't have any way to send you back if you decide- that is, when you decide you want to return here."

Ignoring Fay's pleas, Kurogane merely gripped him harder, "That's my problem to worry about, idiot." And with that, Fay knew he had lost this battle to Kurogane's steel-clad strength of will. More than that, it was too late already, the both of them felt the light enveloping them, although Kurogane perhaps felt it more acutely than Fay, as he wasn't used to this sort of transporting magic. For a moment, all he could sense was blinding coolness, and then he was on his bum, feeling something freezing and wet seeping into his trousers. Once the glow had faded enough for him to see, he saw a land entirely dusted with thick snow. Fay's head was tilted slightly up, in the direction of an enormous castle carved from sapphire, and diamonds reflecting in the windows. At the top was a statue of a dragon, posed fiercely and ready to defend its lair. But the most fascinating part was that the castle itself floated in mid-air, supported by thin, almost invisible wings above a small town. The town itself was picturesque, like a fairytale village. It was, Kurogane decided, the most amazing thing he had seen in his young life so far.

"Welcome to Celes," Fay whispered softly, warmly, "The town is called Valeria. And _that_ is Leval Castle up there; my home."

Kurogane could merely nod his head, already rendered speechless by this spectacular new world. He didn't know what on earth had possessed him to think that chasing after Fay was a good idea, but now he felt as if it were the only choice he could have made.

* * *

Comments, questions, concerns, feedback- anyone?

BTW, I've take liberties with some of the places from TRC, so in this fic:

**Celes** = province/country

**Leval** = castle

**Valeria** = village

and the others will be explained along the way.


	7. Windy

**A/N**_: Holy bajeezus, it's been waaaay to long, guys! I should bother to check on my updates more often. O.o Anyway, while this chapter is one of the longer ones, there isn't much fluffiness to be had. But hopefully it moves the plot along a bit._

* * *

Despite the resolution he projected on the outside, Kurogane had already grown wary of this strange world. For, he assumed that was what it was. A castle floating in thin air, without the power of according to the basic laws of physics, as far as he remembered. This place was different, a cacophony of sights and sounds he had never imagined.

"Kuro-rin? Let's go up, that is, if you like," Fay gestured to the floating Leval Castle.

"And how the hell do we do that, fly?" Kurogane asked incredulously. When the svelte-looking boy gazed back at him, his mazarine eyes as serious as can possibly be for once, Kurogane knew that he was in for trouble. "You. You can get us up there? No way, I've got to see this."

Fay giggled, "Most of the Elvens here can fly, Kuro-pipi! Otherwise, we'd be stuck with no way to get to the castle. And how horrific would that be?"

Even as he spoke, wisps of ethereal material were erupting from his back. They were wings, but never before had anyone seen the likes of them. There weren't any feathers, or flaps of leather attached to his skin. In fact, from where Kurogane stood, they didn't appear connected to his back at all. They were white, yes, softly glowing with translucence. They moved in the subtlest of breezes, catching every color in the world and reflecting them back in kaleidoscopic brilliance. If one were to look at just the right moment, they all but vanished in the backdrop of snow. Kurogane almost reached out to touch one of them, yet he held back, fearing they were simply too fragile.

How wrong he was. Yuui grasped him around the waist, fluttering the wings experimentally and creating a gust of wind powerful enough to kick up the snow around them. Before Kurogane had the option of protesting, he shot into the sky, toward the castle.

"You're lucky I'm good with heights," Kurogane gasped out loud. Inside, he was terrified, but he was loathe to show any weakness to Fay.

He beamed at the scowling boy, and a wing flap later, they were standing on the cold grey stone of Leval Castle. If Kurogane had thought that down below was cold, then up here the air was absolutely frigid.

"What did you call yourself?"

"I don't remember calling myself anything."

"Yeah you did. You said you were an elf, or something like that." Fay only smirked. "Dammit, I know what I heard! Tell me what you said!"

Fay huffed, his breath forming tiny frost clouds. "I'm an Elven. Or, well, close enough. There are other kinds too, but not all of them can fly. Just us. Buuut, that's another story. For now, I'm sure you'd be happier to get changed into something warmer," he winked, indicating Kurogane's outfit that consisted of a t-shirt and cargo shorts.

"No kidding. And you aren't wearing any more than I am," he discerned, "How are you not cold?"

Truthfully, he hadn't expected any sort of response that answered his question in any form, but Fay merely shrugged and stated "I've lived here all my life, you know. I'm used to it. Though I guess I benefit from being not-quite-human."

Did he even want to know? Well, yes, but it seemed that Fay was closed to further discussion of that matter, as he was leading Kurogane to Leval Castle by the hand. Vowing to interrogate Fay later, Kurogane relented to being dragged along by the hand. Somehow, the splendor of the castle and the cold smell in the air made Kurogane feel less wont to impatience. This whole place had a soothing effect, and Kurogane considered the vast possibility that he was dreaming, or hallucinating. It was hard to say whenever he was around this airy boy. He even allowed Fay to hold his hand without so much as a grunt of complaint. Strange, when he looked back at that moment, how it had felt like the beginning of a future that he couldn't possibly imagine. For a moment, he saw himself here, growing old, away from his family and friends, content with his life. Just as long as he had Fa- wait. No, he no way in hell or earth was he thinking about the pretty boy that way. Even so, part of him was transfixed at the sight of Fay running through the snow, with his porcelain skin contrasting in the backdrop of indigo sky, and those azure eyes that were brighter than any star he had ever seen...he had to admit that Fay looked beautiful.

He snapped out of his day-dream when he heard his friend gasp aloud. "They must've noticed me gone by now. The sovereign will surely have my head for this...c'mon, let's hurry before they find out I'm here!" Running even faster now to keep up with Fay, the Asian looked up and saw that the sapphire stone dragon was missing from its space at the top of the castle.

"I know there was a blue dragon statue up there just five minutes ago. I'm not crazy yet."

"It's gone?" Kurogane pointed, rolling his eyes at the glaringly obvious picture.

A word escaped Fai's lips that Kurogane never thought he would hear. "The dragon leaves whenever we're vulnerable to an attack from the other kingdom. King Hideki must have summoned his allies...quickly, I need to find Eagle."

* * *

Two silhouettes stood at the entrance to the floating castle. Both men, one lean and sharp, the other more broad, with smooth hair. As Fay and Kurogane approached, the shorter of the couple raced forward, capturing Fay by his arms, startling Fay and causing a shock of protectiveness over him in Kurogane.

"Where the hell have you been, you little rat? Ashura's been going mad looking for you, I'll have you know. Causing such as scandal among the entire palace," he scolded and then hugged him tighter, to convey that he procured no ill-will toward Fay. "Who might this be, youngling?" He gestured at Kurogane as he set Fay back on the ground.

"This is Kuro-sa-"

"Kurogane," the dark boy interrupted, before Fay could lead others to butcher his name. He stuck out his hand to shake. "Kurogane Youou."

The first man grasped his fingers in a delicate way, and the larger one with the firm yet refined grasp of a nobleman, introducing themselves as Eagle and Lantis, respectively. From the looks of the way Eagle had scooped Fay up, these two were close to the boy, although their exact relationship to him was a mystery for the time being. Kurogane stared pensively up at the one called Lantis, mustering up the will not to scowl at the older male. Not that Lantis payed him any mind, as he was preoccupied fiddling with a small scroll that he'd taken from his waistcoat pocket.

"This is from Celes," he explained, handing it over to Fay, "we received it shortly after you disappeared. I suggest you take heart to guard it from being discovered by Our Lord."

Examining the letter with great curiosity, he frowned slightly to himself once he'd reached the end, in slight disappointment. Nonetheless, he quickly hid the negative reaction behind a grateful smile toward Lantis. "Thank you for keeping this. Now, I think it's best I go see Lord Ashura. If you don't mind, would you show Kuro-tan around the palace?" He gestured to the boy with inky black hair, standing to his right, appearing more confused than ever. "As my honored guest, of course. He's, er, not exactly familiar with the laws of our world...so..."

"Dually noted," said Eagle, "Lantis and I will see that he's given proper treatment and find somewhere for him to stay."

With a clandestine, furtive wink at his companion, Fay smiled, and off he went to face the king, leaving Kurogane to stand, in an embarrassing position, in the presence of his guardians.

"So, er," Kurogane, displeased at having been robbed of the only person familiar to him, to put it mildly) huffed, "I'm saddled with the two of you, am I?" crossing his arms in attempt to make himself out to be more confident than he was.

Judging from the way Eagle chortled at his display, his acting had failed miserably.

"I think, youngling, that we are the ones who've been burdened with you. At least, Lantis has." He poked out his tongue to the brooding man. Then, drawing a strange symbol with his finger in midair, he slowly began to disappear.

"You aren't leaving me alone to to deal with this brat, Eagle Vision! You get-"

All too soon, Eagle had vanished into thin air, leaving only a bright light behind similar to Fay. The only difference being the colors: where Fay's was pure white, Eagle's was tinged in gold. Lantis slapped a hand to his face. "He always does that..."

"Sounds like someone I know," Kurogane smirked.

"Ah, yes, I believe that may have something to do with that fact that Fay has learned most of his magic from Eagle. They've been inseparable since he arrived here. But that's a tale for another time. For now, we'll have to find you a place to lodge, and somewhere to work. The kitchens could do with a cook's help. "

"Work? I'm barely fourteen!" He balked at the idea of being used as slave labor.

Lantis blinked, unfazed, "That's plenty old enough. Still, if the idea of working in the castle sickens you that much...how do you feel about silversmithing?"

"Making stuff from metal you mean?" Lantis nodded. "Doesn't sound like its such a bad thing."

He took Kurogane by the elbow, "My lad, I think we may have found Kazuhiko an apprentice. If you're lucky enough and he finds you suitable, he may even take you under his wing and teach you the art of swordsmanship."

* * *

The eastern corridor was dark, morose even, the walls hung with portraits of the former royal heirs. The candelabras which appeared intermittently throughout, gave a tiny glimmer of light and warmth to the passage. Fay headed down to the end of the hall, knocking softly when he reached the ornate silver door. He counted to five and held his breath, prayerfully hoping that Lord Ashura had taken a leave of absence.

"Enter."

No such luck. Then again, when had he ever considered himself lucky? Grimacing, he turned the handle and opened the door to his Lord's room. The noble sat on a bed arranged in many shades of purple and lavender, with a black canopy net folded neatly back. The curtains were drawn, as Ashura required his chamber be completely darkened when he slept (as was most of the time). Fay hesitantly made his way over to the bed and sat down at the edge.

"Where have you been?" His voice dripped in molten anger, the tone burning in impatience.

"Your Majesty, if I may-" CRACK. Fay touched a hand to his cheek, shocked by the sting of Ashura's hand. He closed his mouth soon enough, and gazed back into those livid gold eyes. Swallowing, he nodded and prepared to accept whatever punishment he was dealt. Whenever Ashura was in a one of his manic fits, it was for the best. Any struggle or argument was futile if the man was no longer in his right mind to hear it. Even so, Fay barely controlled the trembles that rose in his body. This, this, was the reason for his panic attacks, his nervous and flighty disposition. This regal, cold-hearted man with his sable hair obscuring calculating amber eyes. Sometimes, he wondered if Ashura had always been this way...better not to dwell on it. "I apologize, my lord. It shan't happen again, you have my word. As a Prince."

Fay's promise served only to frustrate the sovereign more. "I hope you know what you've cost me by deciding to take your leave without my permission. We are on the brink of war Valeria, and here I'm forced to send my most valuable scouts and warriors to search the castle and surrounding grounds over... merely to discover you had left the realm entirely! Days spent traipsing through the lands, while you were off on a flight of fancy excursion." Fay bowed his head as low as possible, taking great care to present himself as regretful toward the Lord, despite the fact that he wouldn't have traded meeting Kurogane for the world. Ashura eventually sighed and patted the top of his head. "Remember, Fay, that we had an agreement. If I find out you have betrayed me in any form, there will be consequences...for the both of you. You are dismissed for the time being."

Fay's legs couldn't carry him away fast enough from the chamber room. As he rounded the corner, he suddenly remembered the letter in his pocket. Once again, he pulled it out and scanned his eyes quickly across the parchment. If he were more clear-headed, he would memorize the words and burn it so that there was never a chance of Ashura discovering it. Still, physically holding something from someone he cared so much for made it difficult for him to think properly. When was the last time he'd written? The last time Fay remembered exchanging letters was two months ago. Shaking himself out of his reverie, he remembered that he ought to pay a visit to Kakei. The kind Dreamscaper would be able to take the letter and store it for safekeeping.

He made it just after closing time. He could see Kakei-sensei at the door with his brass key glinting in the light of the kerosene lamp. Without hesitation, he ran forward to meet his teacher. "Master Kakei, I need a moment."

"Ah, yes, do come in," Kakei obliged, "I haven't seen you around lately. I had begun to think that your apprenticeship had been taking its toll..." He winked at the young boy.

"No, I was away for personal reasons."

"I see. And did the King know of this?" Fay hung his head in response, and Kakei had little trouble understanding what had happened. The man hissed under his breath about "filthy, self-righteous bastard". Before Kakei went off on another tangent about their sovereign king, Fay took the letter out of his pocket. He had clenched it in his fist so many times that by now the parchment was wrinkled permanently in the shape of his fingers.

"This is from Yuui," Fay explained as he held it out for Kakei. "I'd like if you'd find somewhere to hide it. I can't risk Ashura finding out that we've been in contact."

"It'd be safer to burn it."

"I know, but it's been so long since I've heard anything from him. Months. I can't bring myself to do it; I feel as I'll be throwing away the only piece of him I have right now if I burn his letter." He looked up at Kakei with those watery blue eyes, and of course the man had to accept. He didn't want his apprentice to go through any more suffering that necessary. And he knew just how miserable Ashura made him.

"Thank you." Fay beamed and practically dove into his teacher's arms, startling him. "I'll be here tomorrow morning. Although... I think I may just bring a friend."

* * *

Fifteen minutes after he had met Kazuhiko, Kurogane became aware of two things. One, the man devoted his life to his work of silversmithing. And, two, his wolfhound was one of the most impressive animals he had ever seen, and he'd seen many a dog in his young life.

Her name was Spinel, and while she seemed weary of Kurogane himself, she trotted candidly along at his side, between the two of them as Kazuhiko lead the way inside to the workshop. The thrifty man lived in a cottage in a village in Celes Province, and his shop was part of his home. Up above that, there were dark oak stairs to a loft, where Kurogane presumed he slept.

As if reading his thoughts, Kazuhiko gestured to the staircase. "Let's get your room set up first, then I'll show you the basics and what I expect of you in the process." The loft was bigger than the outside lead one to believe. There were two very small rooms instead of just one. Granted, they were only several feet apart and the walls must be dreadfully thin, but at least he would have privacy. Kurogane needed a place of his own, especially when he had been thrust into a completely new world, with his only companion a boy who was little more than a stranger to him...come to think of it, where was Fay? "if you don't like it, you're welcome to find someone else to take you in. Good luck, the locals are charming enough folks, but the sovereign has them on edge. They aren't too trusting of strangers."

Kurogane furrowed his brow. "And why's that?"

"They're afraid of spies from the other Kingdom. Now, we have later for a history lesson. The water basin is over here, and the linens for the bed are in that closet over there," the smith pointed to the opposite end of the room. "I doubt you'll have much space in there, but it's what we've got."

"Uh, thanks," he mumbled, "listen, I have a friend here. Well, at the castle. I want to see him." Kurogane's voice grew stronger as he spoke, with increasing conviction. He wasn't going to let this man rule his life. He was young, and true that he was under Kazuhiko's tutelage, but he was free to make his own choices. He needed to make that clear in the beginning of this relationship, so that he was never accused of having overstepped boundaries.

"You will not," said Kazuhiko firmly and without room for a retort. With a smirk, he backed down the stairs, leaving Kurogane's resolve in shambles. "...until you come to a demonstration." The boy's face brightened up a fraction. "I know you want to see Fay, but he has responsibilities to attend to. As do you. Just know that I'm not some tyrant hell bent on keeping you as my slave boy," at this Kurogane grinned and Kazuhiko chuckled a bit at his own joke.

"Fine. One demonstration, then I can go to the castle."

"You've got a deal, lad."

* * *

_Honestly, I feel terrible for leaving this story so long. I do have other chapters planned out, but a combination of life and writer's block got in the way of me getting them down. I think I'll stick to shorter, more frequent updates now._


	8. Skies

**So...no fluff in this chapter either. orz I feel bad not delivering on that. But there is sibling angst, and background information. So yeah. Hopefully you all enjoy this, and sorry again for the lack of updates. Also, this chapter is shorter than the others, and probably not well edited, but whatever. . I wanted to give you all something, since there seems to be a depressing amount of new/updated Kurofai fanfics.**

- Blaze

* * *

It was in the midst of a cold spring when Fay first discovered that he and his twin brother were not so identical as he thought. For one, as they made the trek back to their castle, nestled away in the snow covered mountains of Celes where they had been hunting for crystals- (yume-crystals to be exact) Yuui had worked himself into a sickly perspiration before they had even reached the forest. He insisted on continuing on with their excavation, because yume-crystals were rare and held the power to build from dreams, a matter of which Fay was heavily intrigued by. In fact, he faced his studies of creating worlds purely out of the mind with the intensity of a raptor. Still, his wishes to become a Dreamscaper meant little if his twin had to suffer.

"Yuui, perhaps we should go back?" He said, glancing at his brother and worrying his lip between his teeth. The younger of the twins shook his head adamantly. He had always been the more stubborn of the two, easily making Fay capitulate to his whims (and he was rarely short of ideas, bless him).

"We have to finish, else you won't get to learn that new spell that Kakei wants to teach you. It's not like you could hide how excited you were about it." Sickly though he may be, Yuui could easily read the emotions of anyone he was close to. It was not a gift, but a strangely acquired empathy. Perhaps he'd inherited in from their late mother, Freya. No, if Yuui had a talent, it was Dreamseeing. He practiced under Princess Emeraude, honing his skills at predicting the many possible futures to come. Yuui winked, flashing a bright smile, though not as bright as Fay's returning one. "Besides, I have a feeling you're really going to like this lesson."

"Kakei didn't specify how many yume-crystals had to be collected," Fay muttered, "And besides, you look as if you're getting a fever. We're heading back. It'll be dark soon and you know Hideki doesn't like for us to be out of the castle boundaries past sundown."

Swaying on his feet a bit as he stood, Yuui finally acquiesced. As they gathered the crystals up in their basket, ( large, smooth, opaque stones of the deepest blues of the ocean, the greens of the forest, and smokey ones like the Celesian Mountain chains) each representing an important piece in the dream worlds Fay would someday create, Fay tried to keep his mind off his brother's ailing health. Instead, he focused on the thought of practicing the new techniques of Dreamscaping with Kakei.

* * *

Creeping down the eastern hall of the palace, Fay could hear labored, raspy breaths and voices coming from inside the bedroom that he shared with his twin brother. Yuui was in there, the source of the pitiful gasping and occasional broken sob. He surreptitiously pressed his ear against the door, attempting to hear what the voices were saying.

"Hideki...what can we do for him?" The meek voice of his aunt, Chii, muffled by the thick oak door.

"We've already given him all the herbs Clef can think of; not to mention the number of enchantments to ease him into sleep...yet his fevers keep worsening. I don't understand why that's so," King Hideki murmured, with not a small amount of unease penetrating his words. "He's been like this for over a week now, with no sign of getting any better."

Yuui coughed, as if to reaffirm Hideki's statements. Fay's heart ached at that moment, wanting so badly to burst through the doors and crawl into bed with his twin, the boy who shared his birth and blood, to take the sickness away. But he mustn't. They were keeping him out of the way in case whatever Yuui had was contagious (though Fay knew they were merely trying to keep him from seeing his brother in such a state; Yuui had been showing symptoms for months now, and even sleeping in the same bed, never had he caught the illness).

"Fay..." Yuui whispered, "Where is Fay? Please..." Almost unconsciously, he tried to sit up from the pillows.

"You can't see him yet, sweetie. You have to get better first." Chii stroked his silky blond hair very gently, moving his bangs out of his eyes. There were faint purple circles around them, offsetting the crystalline blue color in a rather haunting manner.

"But I need him. What if..." he chewed on his lip and let his head fall back down, not finishing his sentence. He was simply too tired, and besides, did not want to entertain the notion of what he was thinking to his god-parents. Those thoughts were for Fay, and only Fay. All he knew was that he desperately wanted to not be alone. Turning is face into the pillow, Yuui let out a tiny, hopeless whimper. It hurt, as much as he tried to pretend otherwise. His head, his limbs, everything down to his frail bones ached with the fever the boy had tried to fight for weeks, to no avail.

Chii and Hideki exchanged uneasy glances, and finally relented to allowing Fay into the room for the night. Yuui instantly brightened when Fay entered the room and settled down on the bed next to him. "Hi," he whispered, entwining their fingers together once his brother was lying down. Hideki turned the lights down, and Chii kissed them both on the head, and they bid the boys goodnight.

"You're okay?" Fay asked, worry clenching at his stomach at the sight of Yuui. "I mean, you just don't look well at all..."

"I think so...for now at least."

"Don't say that, Yuui," he pleaded, "you'll get better. I promise you. I'll do anything to make you get better, but you have to hold on. For me." His eyes glistened, and he quickly wiped at them before any tears fell. "I don't know what I'd do without you."

The reply was soft; Yuui was nearing sleep "I'm trying. I'll keep trying...for you."

* * *

It was a winter's day, the cold sharp enough to pierce through him, the day Fay met the man who would alter the course of his fate forever. He was at his wit's end, having been up all night with Yuui. Chii had fallen asleep in the chair next to them, her golden hair fanned out over the side of the bed, clasping Yuui's arm. The poor boy only seemed to worsen in his illness, despite the efforts of their healer, Clef, and all the love in the world from Fay. Nothing was working, and now it was considered good fortune if Yuui could make it out of bed for more than a few minutes. He needed medical herbs throughout much of the day, save for when he was sleeping, which was becoming more and more by the week. That lead to Fay's current task of going to the apothecary to fetch some herbs for him.

Shivering a bit, despite his being accustomed to the weather, he decided it would be faster to fly. But just as he spread his large gossamer wings and took to the sky, he saw a strange sight. A man with long, raven black hair and dressed in ornamental (far too gaudy) robes of purple was heading in the same direction, toward the apothecary. Curiously, Fay flew above him, just high enough so as not to draw attention to himself. He knew the man, or more correctly, had heard of him. Lord Ashura, the Sovereign King of their neighboring castle, Leval. He was renowned everywhere for his magical abilities, even out-ranked Clef. Still, the man was known to be eccentric and reclusive most of the time, so Fay wondered what business he had outside of Leval Castle. Perhaps...he would agree to help Yuui. Surely His Majesty would deign to help a poor young boy?

He swooped down, landing lightly on his nimble feet just a few meters away from Ashura. The noise was cushioned by the wind and the snow on the ground. Folding his wings in, he called out "Your Majesty!" And when the man turned to acknowledge him, he bowed deeply before him. "If I could have merely a few moments of your time, Sovereign. I seek your help, you see." The man regarded Fay from down the length of his nose, with golden eyes like an eagle's, harsh and unrelenting. Presently, he nodded, softening his gaze, allowing Fay to rise from his knees

"Come now, child. I haven't time for your dalliances and games. Tell me what it is you need of me?"

"I have a brother, my twin...he's incurably ill. I can't stand to watch him suffer any more. If he dies..." He paused and took a shuddering breath, and then finally said. "I want you to heal him. I'll do whatever you ask in return" The king frowned at him, shaking his head.

"I'm afraid I cannot do anything. It is against my policy to choose to help the people, no matter who he may be or how well loved. Life, sickness, sorrow...all are part of nature and we must accept it, dear child."

At that moment, Fay had to clench at the frozen ground, the ice numbing his hands and keeping him from sobbing. "Please. I'm begging you. If you help him...wait!" Why hadn't he thought of it before? The King was rumored to lust after the Celesian throne, wanting to expand his own kingdom's borders, and his power. Fay was an Elven, a winged one at that, something incredibly valuable, rare, and powerful. More importantly, he was also the prince next in line for the throne as well as a Dreamscaper. Ashura didn't know that yet, of course, but if Fay offered himself... "Your Highness, if you'll help Yuui, I swear on my honor that I will serve you until you set me free."

Ashura scoffed, "And if I refuse? What use are you to me?"

"My name is Fay Fluorite. I am the crown prince of Celes." he smiled, watching Ashura's face grow slack, knowing he had the ruler's attention now. "And I propose this: Heal my brother. If you do so, I believe I can be of service to you. How you use me is your choice."

Moments passed across the snowy field, and the snow fell around them, lighting upon Fay's head and Ashura's robes. Finally, he nodded.

"It is done. I will send someone with the correct potions for your dear brother. Today, you will leave with me, and you may not set foot within the bounds of your lands again. Furthermore, you may contact your family. You belong to me. Unless," he thought aloud, "ah, yes. You are an Elven, are you not? Renowned for your physical beauty, a magnetic force to anyone who spends even few minutes with you. It is said that the winged Elvens are the most beautiful of all us. And yet they never know true love because everyone is blinded by their charm, only to turn away when the facade is broken...If someone will love you truly, within ten years, you are freed. Even if I haven't procured the Kingdom of Celes for my own. You have my word."

Tears formed in his eyes at the notion that he would not even be able to say goodbye to Yuui. But, no matter; he was going to be alright, and Fay would find some way to contact him. Ten years would pass as quickly as the flit of a butterfly. But love, Fay soon learned, did not come so easily.

* * *

**"Dreamscaping" will be explained more later, if you haven't figured out what it is already. I was going to include a scene with Kakei teaching Fay, but I just wasn't up to writing itand at the moment it has no bearing on the plot (yet). Like I said, the time will come for an explanation later in the story.**


	9. Soaring

Kurogane was finding the art of forging to be more complicated than he first thought, six months ago. Despite Kazuhiko's instructions, it had taken a long time for him to learn the fine-tuning of the forge, and how to properly make the weapons. Although, to be fair, Kazuhiko had told him that he was a natural at blackmithing (he didn't honestly think he was even close to being decent at the craft, however, no matter what Kazuhiko claimed), even if he constantly had to practice at the rest. He growled at the silver cup in his hands. His mentor was never going to let him off his shift, malformed as it was. Still, it was an improvement from the last, and just maybe Kazuhiko would take pity on him. If he should be so lucky...speak of the devil, the man's heavy boots could be heard crunching against the dirt. Kurogane gritted his teeth, praying that today, his caretaker would not be so scrutinizing.

"Let's have a look at it," Kazuhiko gestured for the cup. Sighing, Kurogane handed it to him. "Well, it's an improvement..." He muttered to himself at length, turning the object over in his palm. The handle was not aligned properly, and there were places in the silver that were dented from Kurogane's clumsy hands striking the soft metal too harshly. Even so, the man nodded his head in approval at it.

"Not as good as I'd like, but you've been working yer ass off, haven't you? You push yourself so hard, sometimes I forget you're only a kid," he said, rumpling Kurogane's spiky black hair. "And sometimes, even hard-working younglings need a break once in a blue moon," he winked at the boy, and Kurogane glanced up through his furrowed eyebrows. Did Kazuhiko mean what he thought he meant?

"Can I...?"

The blacksmith guffawed, "You've done enough for today. So why not, kid? Go have a little fun. When you come back, I'll give you some more pointers. You'll be the second best of the 'smiths in the village when I'm done with you." The insolent youth rolled his eyes at Kazuhiko, only faintly hearing him as he dashed along the trail to the house to wash himself free of the grime that came from working with fire and hot metal. He rinsed his face and hands in the water basin, using the hand-crafted mirror to check that he had cleaned himself of all the soot and dirt. Then, he pulled on a fresh pair of breeches and a shirt, and he before long, he was making headway to the base of Leval Castle.

He was in such an elated hurry to get there that he almost passed right by the fair-haired boy (or rather right _into_ him) on his way to the castle. Fay was supposed to be doing his chores at this hour, whatever those happened to be. Kurogane still had very little notion of the other boy's life and schedule. Of course, it was Kurogane's duty as Fay's best friend to relieve him of this burden by sneaking him out of there once in while. No that couldn't be- He did a double take, and watched Fay's grin spread on his face, taunting him for having been about to march all that way, only to have the blonde right here! The nerve of this boy. "Oi, why didn't you say it was you, you idiot?" He huffed, not as angry as he could have been, but peeved all the same. Somehow, seeing Fay, his only source of familiarity in this disturbing new world, mitigated the boy's penchant violent outbursts. Especially when he tried aiming them toward Fay himself. More now lately than ever, he found it hard to be truly angry when he was too delighted to see him. (Though he would never be able to admit that to the blonde.)

Still trying to muffle his laughter, and attempting an "innocent" shrug, Fay said "I did see you there, Kuro-chuu. I was too busy playing with my yume-crystal to notice."

"You were smirking the entire time, idiot. I saw," he quirked one eyebrow, "I know you better than that, so don't think you're gonna get away with lying to me."

"Ahh, so you do. It won't happen again. I promise." Both knew that the odds of him keeping that promise were slim, but Kurogane allowed Fay to link their pinkies together, anyway. He'd figured out that there was so much more to Fay than what the secretive, waif-like creature cared to admit, and he wouldn't deny that sometimes the curiosity to *understand* him burned away at his insides. Yet, he also knew that Fay would never open up until he was ready (Kurogane believe in one's right to exercise free will, if nothing else).

"It better not," he warned, "and what the hell is a 'yume-crystal'?"

"This!" Fay took one of Kurogane's large, calloused hand and plopped an oddly beautiful gemstone into it. It was as large as his palm, with surfaces that glittered in all the aquamarine-indigo-cerulean-turquoise-velvet colors he could ever think of picturing. "It creates worlds, worlds made from dreams. Or rather, imagination."

Kurogane frowned at the crystal. "So...you like to play pretend." Somehow, he wasn't yet able to wrap his mind around what Fay was getting at. "...with rocks?" He huffed, "Seems like a waste of time to me. What's the point of creating a world if it isn't even real?"

The blue eyed boy shrugged, taking the stone back into his own hand and holding it out. "Many reasons, Kuro-dubious. For many generations, our kind have believed in the art of Dreamscaping as a powerful tool. It has been said that the Elders created the world, and the many others like it, through their dreams. Or, at least, that is how they began to shape them...Not many people actually have the power to create full worlds," Fay said sheepishly, then added, with a far off look, "Besides, it's...therapeutic and can be a lovely respite from everyday life." He gazed far off at the mountains, trailing his fingernail across his jawline absentmindedly. His smile abated into the troubled look that Kurogane was becoming more acutely aware of by the day.

Thinking back on the day at Tomoyo's vacation house, so long ago now, he remembered the odd dream he'd had, where he'd somehow landed in a helter-skelter world where the entire landscape seemed like the type of splatters in a modern painting- no discernible rhyme or reason to it, that was. He remembered the mountains, ones that looked very much like the ones that made up the scenery behind Leval Castle. He hadn't seen any other landmarks he recognized, though admittedly he hadn't explored much of Fay's world at all. From what Fay had said, there were several other provinces, each differing in many ways to the others.

"That place I woke up in, that dream- did it have anything to do with you?" He asked, as the realization slowly overcame him. "With all the freaky seasons and types of trees mixed together."

The slighter of the two nodded, "At the time, I was perfecting the dream world, still. It's gotten quite a bit more finesse, shall we say, than when you first appeared. Although...I have to say I didn't intend to bring you there at the time." He tapped his bottom lip lightly, as Kurogane blinked incredulously at his words.

If Fay hadn't brought him into the dream, Kurogane certainly wanted to know how it had happened. He had not dabbled in any sort of lucid dreaming, and even so, this was beyond even that. "So, mind telling me why you didn't want me there?"

"Well, it's the place I go to be alone with myself, I suppose. No one can find me, or criticize me, or hurt me. Not in there."

At this inscrutably vague revelation, Kurogane found himself frowning with concern over his friend. There was something that Fay wanted to get away from, to escape and it was obvious that he had been running for a long time. He hesitated only a moment before placing his large hand on one side of Fay's slender neck. Wait? His neck? He hadn't meant for that to happen at all! But it had happened, and Fay met his stare with a questioning one of his own.

"Kuro-myuu?"

He was transfixed, and the only thing the crimson eyed young man could think about was how soft and warm that ivory skin beneath his fingers was, as he curled his hand up to almost cup the boy's face. He couldn't bring himself to look directly at his face, instead choosing to focus on the flutter of a pulse that beat against his palm, and Fay's quickening breath. Then, Fay brought his slim fingers to wrap around Kurogane's, electricity snapping between them in the cold, dry atmosphere, and the spell was broken.

"Ouch!"

Suddenly, Kurogane was very much aware of what he had almost done, what could have _happened _between them _(Is it so wrong? _The voice in his head asked) Yes! Yes, it was unforgivable, because Kurogane didn't really like boys that way (_did he?_). And even if he did, how could he risk losing his only real ally and friend in this entire place on the off chance Fay might actually like him as well? Sure, he'd been contemplating the idea that he had a crush on Fay since...well, before they had come to this place, even. Yet he was not one to wallow in these types of feelings, and therefore hadn't taken any steps to resolve them. A far cry from his usually direct manner of dealing with problems. Still, this was unfamiliar territory they were both treading, so Kurogane thought it forgivable that he shied away.

Of course, none of his panic registered on his features, and for once, he was relieved for having a stoic, inexpressive face. Still, Fay was staring at the ground, and Kurogane thought he might be shaking.

"Oi, that...I didn't mean for it to happen," he said, hoping that it was convincing enough for the younger boy so that he wouldn't question the motive behind Kurogane's actions.

Blue eyes still refused to meet red, and then Kurogane heard a sniffle "Of c-course you didn't, Kuro-tan." He couldn't manage to wipe the tears that were forming away without Kurogane seeing, so instead he kept his head down.

Fuck, the boy really was an idiot. He roughly jerked Fay's head up, with a finality in the gesture that left no room for arguing or running. Then, against his better judgement, he found himself thumbing across his pale wet cheek to wipe at the tears. "Can't you just..look...I didn't...dammit! You know what I mean!" He managed to convey, though his teeth were clenched.

Fay only cocked his head to the side, nonplussed by his fierce words, helpless to decipher their meaning. "I'm afraid, Kuro-sama...that I have no idea what you mean at all." He watched as Kurogane backed away from him, huffing in frustration at his attempts, in vain it seemed, to make the blonde understand. He had never exactly been the depiction of an eloquent person, and he could feel the dangerous weight of the words that nearly formed on his tongue. All the while, Fay only stood there, those tragically expressive aqua eyes betraying everything he might be feeling. Surely, though, Kurogane wasn't able to pick up on it?

He was wrong, however. The taller boy saw Fay's distress, and it was like a searing knife had jabbed him in the heart. How dare he be the one to cause Fay pain? No matter how brazen he may have been, he wasn't immune to the guilt that formed inside him due to his own warring thoughts and Fay's pleading gaze. Suddenly, he knew that he could erase the torment from the boy's face so easily. And knew precisely what to do to assuage the horrible twisting in his own stomach.

Without hesitation, he yanked the slender boy to him, chest to chest, and crushed their lips together in a kiss.

As his lips brushed against Fay's, the cold feeling in the pit of his stomach immediately relaxed, surging upward into a kind of inexplicable warmth and peace. And the quiet, breathy sound that the boy in his arms made, muffled against told him that Fay was quite possible experiencing the same sensation. When it was over, though, Kurogane pulled abruptly away, humiliated at what he'd done and determined to leave as quickly as possible.

Or, he would have done, if Fay hadn't pressed his fingers to that sinewy arm so tightly as to leave bruises (on any lesser person, of course. Never Kurogane.) Instead, he intertwined their fingers together and raised them up to his mouth.

"As long as I've known you...and I still feel like I know nothing. I keep wondering if you'll ever tell me," he muttered against Fay's hand. "But in the end, that's something I have to accept. So, to let you know, I'm here. Whether you like it or not. I'm staying."

"Kuro-rin...thank you." The blonde whispered tearfully, wondering how he had managed to earn this steadfast boy's devotion. Fay squeezed his hand, then cautiously leaned against Kurogane, and was happily surprised to feel a strong, warm pair of arms wrapped around him in an embrace.

**So, two months isn't so bad for an update, I think. And there we finally have the kiss! /fangirlscream. Oh, and the explanation of dreamscaping, if that so happened to strike your fancy. I have a feeling the fluff took precedence. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and reviews are lovely things!**


End file.
